All Connected
by HopeWarlockSummers
Summary: Keegan Howlett is your average 219 year old girl. Her friends are WWII military heroes, and a security guard. Her best friend is wanted by the Atraxi, she's chasing the Doctor and to top it off, her job nearly kills her every night. **Rated T for mild swearing, also because I'm cautious** (Multiple fandom crossover)
1. Chapter 1- Two types of News

Hey guys, thanks so much for clicking on this story, I really appreciate it, this is my first one so I'm sorry for any mistakes that will be made in the process of this story. I hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to let me know.  
Anyways, Happy Reading,  
HopeWarlockSummers

Chapter 1  
 _ **TWO TYPES OF NEWS**_

"RAVEN! GET UP!"

I jolt awake and sit up in my bed, where I see my older brother James sitting next to me, he removes his hand from my shoulder at the sight of my startles form. James is 16, fighting age, although father never wanted him fighting due to him not having "experience." Although just last week, General Wolfe announced that they were short soldiers in training. Both James and my eldest brother, Victor, have been eager to join the British army. While my older sister Alexis and I are expected to become house wives. I wish I was born male; I have always loved the idea of fighting.

"Jamie," I begin, looking at him, "what is the problem? It isn't even dawn yet."

"Three of them are here, Raven. Mother wants all four of us downstairs.." he trails off, obviously expecting the worst. I nod my head, and get out of my old bed. James waits for me as I make my bed, I turn 14 today so I will be expected to show cleanliness.

As James and I make our way down the stairs of our home, I notice mother, Alexis and Victor already seated in the living room. Victor is wearing his night robe while mother and Alexis are wearing their nightgowns. Alexis' long red hair hangs by her waist as she has not yet braided her hair for the daily chores. Standing by our lit fire place, are three British soldiers. They're wearing their red coats and full military attire. One of them has a piece of parchment in his gloved hand while another one holds the British flag. I make my way thinking one thing to myself:

Has something happened to father?

James motions for me to sit down, I do so with caution. The entire room has an eerie, tense feeling thick as butter as James sits down. We wait in silence for the soldiers to begin.

Mother begins the conversation once the four of us are settled. "General Wolfe, what honour do we have for you to visit us at this early hour?"

Wolfe stays silent for a moment, reading the parchment. Finally he breaks the silence, "Lady Howlett, with a heavy heart, I must announce the death of John Howlett."

The eerie feeling snaps like a twig, Victor snaps to attention, while Alexis begins crying. James is holding me back with a hand covering my mouth, preventing the screams to escape. This is not real, father cannot be dead. He was supposed to come home tonight, he can't possibly be dead. He is supposed to teach James and Victor to shoot a gun in the next weeks.

Wolfe continues, "Lord Howlett died from a bullet while on the battle field in the early hours of June 21st 1810. He died a true soldier Lady Howlett." Mother nods her head, wiping the tears away from her face with her handkerchief.

"Therefore, it must become that Victor Creed becomes the Lord of the house, since he is the eldest man here at age 19 years." James gives Wolfe a death glare while Victor looks like he was just stabbed. Victor as Lord of the house will not end well, both James and I know it very well. As Victor signs something on the parchment, James and I travel to my bedroom once again. I take my long dark blonde hair out of my braids and lie down across my bed sheets. James paces the length of my room, arms behind his back, staring at the ground. His dark hair hides his eyes and his emotion, until he stops and looks down at my face.

"I'm leaving at dawn tomorrow morning, if you wish to come."

I sit up and look at him with pure confusion across my face, "James, I'm afraid I do not understand you."

"I'm joining the army Raven." He growls quietly.

"Yes I know that. But where do I come into this?"

He looks at me, "didn't you always say that you wanted to fight? To fight for our colony?"

I'm shocked, women are never allowed to fight, never. "James, are you mad?"

"No madder than you Raven," James begins, grinning at my confusion, "Your small frame can fit into my old clothes. Meet me in my room tomorrow night after mother has gone to sleep." With that James exits my room, leaving me to think one thing:

I'm running away with James to fight for the British army.


	2. Duel and Escape

**Hey guys, I hope you are enjoying this story so far. Just to be aware, this is not just a Marvel crossover story. There will be tons more. I have a huge list of fandoms that I want to visit so hold on if this is not what you were hoping for.**

 **If you have questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to contact me either by PM or comments.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the Marvel Universe or anything else. Just my OC's.**

 **Happy Reading,**

 **HopeWarlockSummers**

The day seemed to drag on extremely painfully after the news of father passing in many ways. One way are mother and Alexis being unable to function around the quarter section without sobbing, or breaking down into tears, as well as Victor sauntering around as if he's a reanimated corpse. His eyes are dull and his hair is messy. He hasn't left the house except to do his morning chores of feeding the livestock. It is up to James and I to ensure everything is properly done today as we are the only Howlett's who, as father put it, "machines when it comes to work."

Speaking of James, I haven't spoken to him about last night at all. Whenever I bring it up, he looks at me as if I've gone mad. Maybe he's forgotten the idea of running away and joining the military.

"But what if he really is not joking mare?" I ask our plow horse as I groom her for the day's work, "what if James is actually serious?"

"Serious about what?" I whip around to see Victor, standing at the entrance to the barn, wearing his "new" work clothes. Father's hand-me-downs since they fit him now. He walks over to me and grabs a brush; proceeding to assist me in getting our horse ready.

"You still have yet to answer me Raven," Victor begins.

"Answer what?" Maybe I can play stupid and get out of this, even though I absolutely am awful at acting.

"Don't try to play stupid with me Raven Howlett," Victor teases, smirking. "I know when you're concerned, and you showed me that right as I walked in."

I sigh; I'm not getting out of this. "It's nothing Victor," I begin, choosing my words carefully, "you just startled me." Victor stops grooming the mare to look at me. He kneels down to look me in my neon green eyes. Victor is the perfect height for fighting at 6'0", but he would never leave the farm now. James and I are very small, James has been measured as 5'3" and I have measured myself as 5'0". It is because of that flaw that we are almost always looked down upon. However, James has managed to take out many bigger men his age, hence why he was expelled from every school mother and father tried to send him to. Even though everyone in our family has always punished James for that, I have always wondered how he does it.

"You can tell me anything, you know that Raven?" Victor begins, "I'm your brother." He looks sincere, I know he is. I have this feeling inside my head.

"Yes, Victor, I understand that." I say back at him, using the same tone I would use toward father.

"Stop making me feel old Raven!" Victor laughs as he gathers the horse's harness up in his arms, "let's get to work so we can finish, Alexis is making hot pot tonight."

I laugh and help Victor tack up the mare.

-TIME SKIP BROUGHT TO YOU BY DEADPOOL-

I pace my room, constantly checking through the key hole to see if the house is dark yet. Everyone except mother went to bed hours ago. I've managed to sleep for a while, but I'm paranoid to know if James is joking or not. However, my only barrier is mother; she will question why I'm going to James room in the middle of the night. So I need to wait, which means being patient.

Which I, Raven Bailey Howlett am not patient.

I continue to pace my room; the bright new moon in my window illuminates my pathway as I wait. I try to keep myself occupied by taking the sword out from above my fireplace. The blade glows in the dark and the handle shimmers as I move it in my small hands. I stand up holding the blade as I would in combat.

"On guard," I whisper to myself as I swing the sword around the room. The figure stands tall, dressed all in black. His face hidden by the darkness, he salutes me, gripping his sword with his six-fingered hand. With that, he charges and swings his sword. I catch his swing with mine. It's a fight to the death, with the grace of two ballet dancers. I jump.

Swing.

Duck.

Stab.

Defend.

Jump again.

Swing

Without noticing, I cut my side open with the sharpness of the blade. I gasp at the pain as I cover my mouth to avoid any noise. I look down, my nightgown has a red spot where the sharp blade met my skin. I put my hand on it to try to stop bleeding.

"There will be blood tonight," I say as I fall to the ground, as if I was dying. I look up at the figure of my imagination; he laughs and turns, leaving me to die. He walks over to my window, and disappears into the night sky.

I look down at my side again, only to notice that the blood has stopped. Wait, the blood stain is shrinking? How is that even possible? I ripped the gown when I cut myself; I look at the cut, expecting a fresh wound. Instead I'm met with a scab, with new skin over top. Within a blink of an eye, the wound is completely gone.

"W-w-w..." I trail off in disbelief as I continue to stare at where the cut once was. "What's going on?" I ask myself. I look outside the key hole again to see the house is completely dark. Mother has gone to bed. I can see James.

I can ask James about my "healing". James will know what happened right? He's my brother. I sheath the sword and open my door. I hesitate, listening for any sounds of life. Nothing is heard, perfect.

I proceed carefully down the stairs. Making sure our old stairs do not groan as I walk down them. I then freeze. Mother's room has a candle lit, she might still be awake. I proceed carefully and quietly. Holding the sword so that no one could see it from behind me, I begin to walk past mother's door. Walking slowly and quietly, my mind set on leaving with James. Thing are going smoothly. Until one step, the floor creeks under my weight and I hear rustling from mother's room.

I freeze in my tracks, still as a sculpture. Fearing the worst.

I stand there for what feels like ages before everything returns to its peaceful state. I let out the breath I honestly did not know I was holding, and continued on. After that I finally made it to James' door.

I quietly knock three times. He answers by dragging me in.

"Honestly thought you weren't going to show up," he whispers.

"What made you think that?" I ask him, "I'm not scared James."

"I know that, it just took you a long time to get from your room, down some stairs to here."

"Mother."

"Is that right?" He replies, I can't see his expression due to his back being turned. "Anyways, what did you bring?"

I look down at the sword, "a sword for us."

"I won't need it. You might though, depending on what we come across,"

"Fine then I'll – wait, what do you mean you 'won't need it'?" I ask him, questioning his sanity levels.

"You'll see later Raven," James says standing up, "let's just go, before everyone wakes up." I nod and follow him outside to the barn.

James and I quickly jog to the barn and open it. We just need to divide the stuff James and I brought so he doesn't have to carry everything. James dumps a few clothes in front of me.

"Change Raven," he says, "we'll cut your hair in the daylight." I nod and hid behind some hay to change.

When I'm finished, I leave my old clothes in the hay pile. James' clothes don't fit me properly, and it feels weird to be wearing men's clothes, but I could get used to it. I reveal myself and James nods at me.

"Ready?" He asks me. I nod in reply, honestly, I'm a little nervous.

Just as we're about to exit the barn, we hear someone behind us.

"Ready for what?"

Victor.


	3. That was a Century ago

Victor.

The three of us stand there. James and Victor look at each other as if they're in a deadly staring contest while I feel like I'm about to be murdered. Only one question spins in my head,

How did he know?

I stood there, thinking on it. Then it hit me, Victor knew since this morning. I had given it away talking to the mare. I'm the reason Victor knows.

Now we're never going to leave.

I return to reality to see Victor and James sneering at each other. Victor has long finger nails and James has bone coming out of his hands. They've been arguing since we were found, but what is with the bone sticking out? I did not hear Victor or James break anything, or fight yet.

"If you want to go James, feel free to go," Victor starts obiously trying to calm James down, "but leave Raven here. She won't be good enou-"

"She's a better fighter than you bub," James snaps at Victor, "besides, she wants to go too."

Victor raises his eyebrows and turns to me, "oh really now? Let's let Raven decide, after all she is fourteen now."

James snaps his head to my direction, eyes burning in rage, "well?"

I open my mouth to answer, "I want to-" as I begin to finish my sentence, I feel a shocking pain in my chest. I gasp, holding my chest as I fall to the ground; the pain begins to crawl up my spine, getting ten times worse with every second passing. I hear a voice in the distance, I believe it is James, but I can't hear correctly. The pain makes its way up to my head. The pain worsens still. I scream out, hoping that screaming will relieve the pain. As I begin to black out, I feel something come out of my hands.

-TIMESKIP-

Over a century has passed since the night James and I tried to run away. Yes, we were successful, but not before Victor came with us. Since then, the three of us managed to fight in many "wars" James calls them. We learned that we have reduced aging, so we can probably live forever. As well as James and I having a healing factor, which explains the night I cut myself. Together, we fought for the British in 1812. I stopped fighting in 1900 when I moved to Brooklyn. I still don't know what the pain was caused by that night. Maybe someone here will know. I hear Howard Stark is a "Renaissance Man."

I walk through a high school, which James insisted I go to, because I look 16. It sucks; I'm pretty much the only girl here. By chance I come across another girl, they're just not the kind I want to be around, so I leave them alone. Plus, I don't want to be discovered as a "mutant", the U.S government despises mutants like me.

As I'm sitting on a wooden bench in the sunlight, watching the boys play a game of ball. Someone sits down right beside me. He's a pretty scrawny kid. His blonde hair is messed up and his face is bright red and he's puffing air into his lungs in short ragged breaths. His red face makes his blue eyes pop out. He's cute. Wait, what?

"ROGERS!" I hear someone come up behind him, another guy sprinting up our table. This one's got brown hair and has a bigger build. They must be friends or something. The new guy pushes me off the bench to get to his friend. Holding back some words that only James could come up with, I stand up and clean off my clue skirt and white blouse. I wish I could wear pants again.

"Do you need help?" I ask the blonde boy, he looks up at me and shakes his head. The brown boy looks at me and scowls, "you're the reason he's like this."

I glare at him, "I beg your pardon?"

He glares back giving me a sideways look, "you heard me." I can't take this crap. So I do what James would tell me to do.

I stare back, "well, is there anything I can do?"

"Get a nurse or someone from the school," is my answer. I nod and take off at a sprint, trying to find someone with medical history. After probably a minute I find the nurse and Steve, I learn the blonde guy's name is begins to breathe normally again. I smile a bit, seeing that he is alright and leave. My work is finished.

-LATER-

As the school finishes, I pack my bag and begin to walk back to my "house," which is with a family that James met while down here on a mission. The Carter Family were kind enough to welcome me into their home, even with the depression and the fact that they have a daughter of their own named Peggy. To repay this, I help out the Carters by making money busking on the streets with a flute The British gave me in 1812. I make around $2 a day, which really helps pay for things right now.

"Raven," I hear a voice, neither James nor Peggy's. I stop and look around, finding no one I continue.

"Raven," there is the voice again, almost behind me, I turn around to see Steve. Jogging towards me, I stop and let him catch up. The brunette is right behind him and quickly catches up.

Steve comes to a stop, breathing heavy, "that's your name right? Raven?"

I nod, "Yes, You're Steve right?"

"Yes, and this is Bucky," Steve points to the brunette. We nod at each other to introduce ourselves. Steve continues, "thank you,"

"For what?"

"You helped me; I can at least thank you for helping me."

"Oh...well no problem." I blush a bit, wait...I blushed? What is wrong with me? Bucky nudges Steve's shoulder, as if to remind him something.

"Oh yeah," Steve continues, "Where do y-you live?" Steve stutters a bit. I smile and tell him my address. Him and Bucky return by telling me theirs. We live a bit away from each other, well I live a ways from them. As we walk together, we learn more about each other.

"Here's my road," I say to them as I turn down the old road, "see you tomorrow I guess."

"Bye Raven," Steve says and Bucky waves. As I walk into the house and finish my work for tonight I remember all the events of the day. Then it dawned on me.

"Raven Howlett, you have feelings for a boy."  
-


	4. Feelings and First Day

As time goes on, Steve, Bucky and I become great friends. Finishing high school as one of the only girl, I was able to get a job. I quickly got a job working under Howard Stark, his security needed a couple months off due to a family emergency and I was hired immediately. The job was simple enough, don't let anything get stolen. Simple.

Steve and Bucky have always wanted to fight in the military ever since I've met them. In person I cheer for them, but mentally I wish they would not. Over the past four years, the three of us have grown quite close. Bucky and Steve treat me like a little sister due to them being 20 and me looking 17, I wish I could grow older. I return the gesture by treating them like my brothers. In fact, I feel closer to them then how I felt towards James and Victor. They feel like my real, biological brothers to me, especially Steve.

"Hey Raven," Peggy calls as she enters the Carter's little house.

"Hey Peggy," I respond as I leave the bathroom.

"You're heading to work?"

"Yes, I don't want to be late for the first shift."

Peggy nods as I slip on some black shoes. As usual, I hate my uniform. A dark grey top covered by a light grey jacket, and a black skirt. Completing the uniform was a light grey hat, with a badge on the front that read 'STARK'. Ever since I ran away with James, I've loathed wearing skirts.

"Raven," Peggy breaks the silence, "do you know if you meet him?"

I stop, "no I don't. Why you may ask?"

"I hear he's a bit of a flirt in person."

I roll my eyes, "don't worry Peg," I begin as I stand tall again. "I've got an eye for someone else."

Peggy grabs my wrist the moment I finish the sentence, "who?"

"First, holy Peg, you are strong. Second, I'm not telling you."

"Raven," Peggy wines with a smirk on her face, "tell me."

"No,"

"I'll guess,"

I smirk, "go right ahead."

"Eric Wheeler?"

"No,"

"Kyle Lappin?"

"No."

"Slade Wilson?"

"NO!" ' _Wrong universe,'_ a voice in my head states.

"Oh I know, Steve Rogers."

My face goes a shade of pink, "n-n-no."

"I knew it!" Peggy cries out. I turn a shade of red as the blood rushes to my face.

I turn to her, lightly pinning her to the kitchen wall with my arms, "I swear if you tell anyone..."

"Relax Raven," Peggy chuckles as I set her down and grab my keys, "I'll keep this a secret." I sigh; I know Peggy's telling the truth, she's fiddling with her sleeve.

"Bye Peggy," I say as I open the door and leave."

-Time skip brought to you by 1940's version of Phone Guy-

I fiddle with the light as I walk around the building. It is the early hours of morning and absolutely nothing has happened. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy no one has tried to break in on my first night, but I was hoping for maybe a little more than just walking around shining a really dim "flashlight."

The guy on the phone, who called himself Phillip, left me a message telling me what to do and what to expect. Pretty much if a thief enters the area, I hand him his butt and tell him where the front door is. Pretty boring, but it's a job.

I begin to sing a tune to myself that I've made up as I walk around the inventions and blueprints. It's not much, but I need to stay awake, "da da dum dum dum, de do dum, da da dum dum dum de de do dum. Dum dum dum de de do dum, dad a dum dum dum de de do dum."

Suddenly I hear banging on the floor below me. Thinking it might just be something falling over; I make my way down the stairs.

 _Little do I know what is waiting for me._


	5. What are You?

**Hey guys, sorry if it sucks so far. This is my first fanfic, so I'm still trying to get my life together. Also, sorry if my editing sucks. I have terrible grammar in person and I've been studying for finals.**

 **Anyways, as usual happy reading. Any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to contact me.**

 **HopeWarlockSummers**

The banging continues to get louder with every step I take. I remind myself to keep my breathing steady, while wondering what could be in the basement of the Industrial building, in the middle of the night.

Lovely, a break in on my first night, I am going to be fired.

Finally, I reach the bottom of the stairs. I open the heavy steel door as I turn on my light to shine into the pure darkness. Time to be a security guard I guess. I slowly and quietly walk into the darkness, closing the door behind me. Once again, the banging continues, this time it seems more frantic.

"Hello?" I shout into the darkness, making my voice as deep as it can go.

"Uhh hello? Hello hello?" I ask again. I hear rustling in the darkness just beyond my light. I step forward.

"Who's there?!" My voice cracks "Show yourself!" I hear running.

I see someone running towards me, very fast. I think it's a man, broad shoulders and very tall.

I take up a defensive position. Just as I get knocked over.

I groan and get back up grab my light. The thief is heading towards the door. I have to stop him. ' _Stay calm, stay calm. Keep your wits and stay alive.'_ I think to myself.

"Stop!" I shout as he attempts to open the door, only to find it locked.

' _How is it locked?'_ I think to myself, ' _I didn't lock it...unless,'_ two can play at this game.

"Drop what you're holding, or I will shoot." I say as I pull out a little gun I found in the office when I first arrived.

The person looks at me. I can't correctly see him because of the light. He's wearing black everything, including a mask covering every facial feature except his eyes. "How about you just open this door," he slurs through the mask. I roll my eyes.

It makes sense now. The continuous banging, the door locking itself, the phone call and the gun, it makes sense. You might be a renaissance man Mr. Stark, but you can't fool a 145 year old.

' _Give it all you got,"_ I think to myself as I take up a defensive position once again, this time with my fists closed. The man laughs at my move, and runs at me.

I run at him, bone claws ripping through my hands. The pain is unbearable, I scream as I run forward.

The both of us clash against each other, knocking both of us to the sides of the room. I land on a desk and the man lands into shelving. I stand up and lunge at him. He's smart as he picks up a knife and thrusts it into the air. It embeds itself in my gut. I choke in a breath.

His eyes widen as I step backward a few feet, my eyes never leaving my gut. It's hard to breath, and stand. I fall to my knees. I grip the handle with my left hand and try to pull it out. Useless.

He walks over to me, "game over." Not today it's not.

I grin to myself and rip the blade out and drop it on the floor. Immediately, the wound begins to heal itself. I stand up, fists

I lunge at him and uppercut him square in the jaw. He's too stunned to do anything. Here's my advantage.

I punch. He fights back; I swerve to miss his fist. I hang low and slice his knees a bit with my claws. This goes on for around 1 minute. Until I pin him to the desk I landed on earlier.

"Well played." I say to him as the lights come on. I let him off the desk as we hear walking coming towards us. I quickly look down to see my shirt covered in blood, with a hole in the centre of my gut. Now all there is left is a scar across my stomach. I undo my braid, letting my dark blonde hair fall into my face, hiding my green eyes just a bit.

"Are you Raven?" A voice asks me. I raise my head to see Howard Stark, my employer walking towards me. I breathe deeply, knowing what to expect.

"Congratulations!" He states as he shakes my hand, "you passed my security test."

I nod, smiling to myself, "thank you Mr. Stark. It wasn't that challenging." I say. He looks at me in shock.

"Wasn't challenging, the man you fought was at least twice your height and body weight! Plus he has military training."

' _So do I!'_ A voice in my head screams, I shrug, "really? Oh well then..."

"Yes Raven, congratulations. However, I must ask you something."

Oh boy, here we go, "yes?"

"How did you do the claws?"

I sigh, "I've always had them."

"Yes but what about the knife. Victor here stabbed you. I saw it."

' _Victor?'_ I think to myself. Could the person I fought be my brother?

"Um, I don't know," is my answer to his question. He steps closer to me, removing my hair from my face. He steps back at the sight of my neon green eyes. They're not that scary.

"What are you?" He asks.

I shrug, "a government freak show."


	6. It doesn't affect me

Howard looks at me; you can tell he's trying to process what I just told him. I stare at the hole in my shirt, realising what comes next:

I have to be let go. If anyone found out that he has a freak like me working for him, his reputation would be ruined. If he wants to keep his reputation a positive one, I need to leave.

"Raven, I'll be right back. I'm just going to make a call." Howard says as he begins to walk away. I look up and run towards him to catch up.

"Wait. Who're you phoning?" My speech slurs as I recover from the sprint I just did. I grab his arm and he turns around to, well try to, meet my eyes.

"I was going to phone my company,"

"Yes, I assumed that. But _why_?" I ask, voice sharp, like I would speak to James or Victor.

"I want to learn about your powers." He says as I let him go. I stare at him as he continues, "you're fascinating really, being able to do so many things. I would like to see what stimulates you're enhancements."

Oh dear God. I can't let that happen. No! I've read what happens when people of my kind are experimented on, I'll be killed, ripped apart. No, I can't let that happen.

I smile at him, "thank you, but no thank you. Now, I should be going." I step around him to leave. Howard doesn't follow or try to stop me, just watches me leave.

Once I'm outside in the cool Brooklyn air, I run home, tears streaming out of my eyes the entire way.

-Timeskip-

It's been a week since I've seen Howard. Since then I have continued to work as the night guard. Now I make sure no one comes in, and no one comes out while I'm there. If Howard or anyone close to him enters, I hide.

One night, I got the night off due to there being a huge expo of some sort. Steve and Bucky have wanted to go so they drag me there. Bucky constantly has girls hanging over his shoulder while Steve and I enjoyed being lonely. We are walking when Steve stops at an enrolment poster. I can see he's upset about it. He's tried everything and they turn him away. They said he would get killed easily. I don't see that, I see one of the bravest people I've ever known.

It pains me to see him this way, I go up to him and place my hands on his shoulders, he looks to meet my gaze.

"How do you do it Raven?"

"Do what?"

"Live knowing that you'll never be accepted for anything? I mean, I can't fight. But you have to hide who you are just to survive in today's economy. How do you do it?"

I squeeze his shoulders, and stand on my toes to meet his eye, "I don't let that affect me Steve. You just got to continue trying." I say as I look in his deep blue eyes. I feel a twirl in my gut. Stupid love being so cliché, why do I have to like him like that?

He smiles, "all I want to do is fight. You really think I should try again?"

I nod, "go for it, just maybe be... I don't know...honest?" I say as we laugh a bit. Just then, a man comes out from nowhere. Steve and I look at each other as the man motions Steve to go with him into a medical examination room. Steve looks at me with a look of uncertainty. I do what any good friend would do: Push him towards the man.

They walk in and the door closes behind them.

I'm alone; I walk over to a bench near the door Steve went through and sit down. I gaze off into space, watching the people dance. Once in a while, I believe I see Bucky dancing with a girl. However, as soon as I spot him, he's gone again.

"Raven? Is that really you?"

I shoot my head up and look around.

Who said that? I turn my head to see a woman no older than 25. Her long red hair hangs down by her waist as I stand up and move towards her.

I move towards her, not believing what I was seeing.

"Lex,"


	7. Richard Hamburg

I embrace Lex in a hug. It's been so long since I've seen her last. Just the fact that she's alive brings tears to my eyes.

"How did you...?" I ask as she looks at me, electric blue eyes wide with excitement. Her red hair covers her left eye as it always has.

"It's not that hard to find someone Raven," she begins, "especially when the person I'm looking for has neon green eyes." I look down, I knew my eyes were unique, but I didn't know they were that bright. "Anyways, is he your boyfriend?"

I feel my face flush a shade of red, "I'm sorry, who?"

"The boy you were with, Raven do you have a boyfriend?"

I shake my head and proceed to tell her about Steve and Bucky, while remaining a shade of pink. When I'm done, she nods her head.

"And Bucky got into the military, and Steve was so upset when he found out that he's been lying on his application forms," I finish.

Lex looks at me, "that's illegal."

"I know."

"Do you know who took him into the room?"

I immediately think of what she said in the wrong way, and stifle a laugh, "n-no."

"That's Dr. Erskine, I work with him. He's been working on a chemical serum to create a super being for military. He's been watching your friend for a while now. I think he might use him as an experiment."

My eyes widen, this could go terribly wrong. Even if it's a success, he could die in war. I don't think I would be able to live without Bucky or Steve. "Is there anything I can do?" I finally ask Lex, who looks at me with a concerned look on her face.

She shakes her head, "not really Raven. I mean women are not allowed onto the battlefield so you can't go in as a girl." I then get an idea in my head.

"No, you will be discovered very quickly if you do what you did with James. You are crazy, you know that? You would have to magically become a man, like manipulation of the genes to change you physical form like I can but that requires being advanced genes and chromosomes and-"

I stop her, "wait Lex. Did you just say you can shape-shift?"

She looks at me, "the scientific term is physical manipula-"

"I don't have time for science, do it right now."

"What? Why? Raven Bailey Howlett, you better have a good explanation for this!"

I pin her to the wall, lowering my voice to a whisper, "listen, in 1810, when James and I ran away, Victor and him got in a fight. He has claws in his hands. I have them too."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I want to see what caused me to get them. If you expose me to your power, maybe I can learn my power too."

Lex looks at me, "I question your logic, but alright, I'll do it."

I smile at her as I set her back onto the ground. She takes a deep breath and begins to change her appearance. Her eyes turn a bright green and her hair goes a dark blonde. As she does this, I feel a sharp pain in my head, as if someone has stabbed me. I close my eyes and wince at the pain as it grows stronger as Lex continues. It's not long before I collapse on the ground, seeing black circles in my vision. I then feel my eyelids close as Lex crouches beside me.

"Raven! RAVEN, OH DEAR LORD PLEASE DON'T BE DEAD!" She screams as I open my eyes again, I quickly sit up to see Lex...or myself? I stare at Lex, unable to speak. She looks exactly like me, even the dress she was wearing has changed into my skirt and blouse.

' _Did it work?'_ I ask myself as I stand up carefully. I think of Lex's usual appearance: red hair, electric blue eyes, tall and skinny frame. I feel a tingle in my brain, like a migraine just beginning to pass. Just as fast as the feeling came on, it stops. I open my eyes, looking down at Lex now, who stares in disbelief.

"Holy sh-," she says as she catches herself just in time, covering her mouth, "it worked." I smile as I unshift (if that's what it's called...Thanks a lot author!) into my regular form. Lex smile turns serious as Steve opens the door to the office he was in. I turn to see Dr. Whats-his-face motioning for Lex to talk to him.

"I've got to go Raven, we'll chat. I'm guessing Steve is going to be used with how long that took. I'll help you with a plan, so it's not stupidly dangerous." I nod and she walks towards the doctor, who takes her into the room.

I turn to Steve, who has a small grin on his face, "well? What was that about?"

He looks at me, "I have a chance, Raven, thank you for helping me!"

"That's great! Congratulations Steve," even though my thoughts disagree ' _now what?'_

I need to talk to Lex, and fast.

-A very Merry Timeskip-

Months have passed since Steve was accepted for the Super Soldier Project. Him and Bucky are now off in the military fighting. Today is December 24th, Christmas Eve. As I walk home from work in the early hours of morning, a new layer of snow crunches under my shoes as I walk through the dawn. I look around to see the nearly empty streets, there is no light of sun yet and no one is out in order for gatherings tonight and tomorrow morning. Howard has given me the next few weeks off for the holidays so today was my last uneventful work night until January 4th. I unlock the door to the house I am renting and see someone in my kitchen.

Lex. She said she as coming over today to plan with me. I have gotten much better at changing my shape so now I don't throw up every time.

"Morning Raven," she greets as she takes a sip of her milk, "how was work this week?"

"No different than the last few, some jerk tries to break in once and I hand them their ass; other than that, very quiet. I think I should continue being a night guard, just maybe somewhere more exciting."

"Oh watch your language Raven," Lex laughs, "anyways, you sure you want to do this?"

I turn to her, "save the whole language thing for Steve, he does it better than you. And yes, I want to do this."

She sighs, "alright, I have your application form, I just need your appearance and your health difficulties."

I shift into what I want to look like, I keep the green eyes, but my hair turns a dark brown, almost like Bucky's. The length remains the same due to me liking the long hair. I grow to 6 feet tall and I develop a ton of muscle on my arms. I look at Lex who stares at me, "you didn't throw up."

I shake my head, "no, I didn't." My voice is a little deeper than before but I still sound almost the same. "I still have asthma."

"Got it," Lex says as she writes on the paper, "what's your name? Raven doesn't work."

"That's where I need help," I say, shifting back, "I want to keep my initials the same but I can't go in with a similar last name."

"I agree," Lex says, "did you have any ideas?"

I think for a minute, thinking of names that start with 'R', "How about Richard?"

Lex nods in agreement, "Now the hard part, last name?"

"Hamilton?"

"No,"

"Hilton?"

"Worse,"

"Howlett?"

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Hilfiger?"

"Already have one enlisted."

"I'm out of ideas," I say as I stand back up to stretch out my shoulders. Lex jumps up, startling me.

"I've got it!"

"Tell me?"

"Hamburg, Richard Baylen Hamburg." I nod in agreement as she scribbles it down. "Alright, I'll tell Dr. Erskine that I think you need to be enrolled immediately, and hopefully, you're accepted."

"Great! Thank you so much for doing this Lex, I appreciate it."

"You're my sister, I'm supposed to help you. I just need you to promise me one thing."

"What?"

Lex looks me in the eye, "try not to go hunting for trouble like you usually do."

"I'll try,"

"Thank you Raven."

"When you're around at least,"

"RAVEN HOWLETT!"


	8. Letters

Dear Raven,

I hope you are doing well. It has been very, how should I write this, hectic here. I miss you, James, and even Victor dearly. Have you seen the boys lately?

Unfortunately, my letter brings devastating news for both me and you. You see, while I was visiting you, I was away when they performed the experiment on your friend. I did not learn until today that Dr. Erskine was killed that day by a gunshot wound, along with the remaining serum. I am sorry to say that you will not be able to become enrolled the way we had planned. However, after seeing your application letters (with a few made up events that I added in) they are willing to accept Richard Hamburg. Please respond as quickly as you can in order to come up with a new plan. I do not want to see you killed for your ignorance.

As you have probably seen and or heard, your friend is being used mainly as a show product. He tells me how much he wishes he could do more. He told me that he has yet to inform James Barnes of his enrolment, in fact, he wrote him a letter pretending to still be in Brooklyn. He has asked for your permission to write to you, I think he misses you.

Hope to hear from you shortly Raven, I hope you get your wish, no matter how crazy this is.

Sincerely,

Alexsis Howlett

-/-/-/-

Dear Alexsis,

I am happy to see that you are doing well. I am sorry to hear about the loss of the Doctor, no one will be able to recreate the serum again. Call me mad for this, but I felt something strange overcome me the day of his passing. Almost like a pressure on my chest, restricting my airway. Or as if I could feel the shots and the pain he felt. However, the feeling passed quite quickly after that. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but I feel like it was not.

So with that, guess we need a new plan. We can come up with one. My thoughts of this are first off, I need to get in. Right now, even talking about this through letters in risky, (one thing James taught me.) If I can get in, maybe I can show that I can kick ass and be out in the field quickly? I don't know what goes on nowadays. It used to be round up any male, give them a gun, and march out to the battlefield.

As well, I am having problems staying in my Richard Hamburg disguise for long periods of time; I am fine for one day. However, any longer and things start to slip, or other things tend to happen (the worst being I've passed out. Nothing too serious though.) I'm worried about that. Perhaps we should discuss this? After all, it is your power originally. Have you experienced this before?

Anyways Lex, stay safe. At least until I can get there. You spoke of January 25th as being a good day to go? Please let me know as we have less than three weeks. In the meantime, I will practise my abilities. I think I have control of the claws, healing and sickness now. Like I said, it's just the period of time I have to hold the identity.

Take care Lex, hopefully see you soon.

Raven B. Howlett

 **I'm sorry if you can't read the font. I tried using the easiest to read handwriting. Message me if you can't and I will try to re-post this with different font.**


	9. Did you do it?

Things have not gone as planned.

No, I am not a prisoner or anything like that. That's just the author trying to scare you. (Watch yourself Raven!) Anyways, I'm not a prisoner of war. I have not been captures by Hydra at all. In fact, I did get into the military.

I managed to get into the Canadian Military; Lex is busy trying to convince the United States to work with us. Perhaps I will be able to see Steve and Barnes. However, right now it is day 2 of being Richard Hamburg. The sun has barely risen over the Ontario landscape where the camp is. The bunkers are still full of the other men and soldiers who are being trained currently. We are currently getting ready for another day of training, I think hand-to-hand? I've honestly lost count of everything. We have done so much running and push-ups I doubt anyone could challenge my speed. The person would need to travel the speed of sound, or hell, light.

The bell goes off and we all jog outside. Everyone has the same default expression as we begin our usual routine: 3 laps, 40 push ups and 25 jump jacks.

"Men, stop your training!" A man says. I have not been able to memorize all the names yet. I groan as I stand at attention, fearing the worst if I so move a muscle. I hear groans from behind me as the other soldiers stand up. I glance to my left and see Lex behind the man who called us to attention. She is smiling and nodding her head. Even through the dust in the air, circling us similar to flies on dropped food, I can see the relief on her face.

' _Did she do it?'_ I think to myself as I give her a small look of confusion, ' _Please tell me she did it.'_

"Thank you general, I can take it from here." Lex states to the shocked general and steps in front of the sea of around 40 men, tall and muscular except one. I have not seen him around much, all I know about him is that he has an anger problem and most people who anger him end up in the medical ward.

"Men," Lex begins, although she keeps looking back and forth at the small man and me. I smirk, confirming that she did indeed to it. "I am Doctor Alexsis Howlett, I worked closely with Doctor Abraham Erskine, who you may remember as the man who created Captain America."

Mumbling sparks as she mentions Steve's position. I just continue to look at her, sending the message ' _you did it?!'_

 _"_ I have discussed a partnership you may call it. The Captain and the United States army is willing to take a few men on a rescue mission. Some of their men have been captured by Hydra."

"How many men?" The small man asks, my eyes widen as I recognise the voice. James!

"Logan, I'll leave that to the Captain to discuss," Lex answers.

' _Logan? Where did he come up with a name like that?!'_ The voice in my head questions. Good question...blame the author (Disclaimer: I don't own the Marvel Universe!)

"How many are able to go?" I finally ask, my voice quivers between the disguise and my normal voice. I think Lex noticed

"A request of 15 at most."

"Only 15?"

"Yes, Captain Rogers insisted as they still have large amounts of men available."

"Then why send us at all?" The man to my right asks, "why do they need us?"

"Rogers gave me no other information," Lex admits, she squares her shoulders and paces in front of us, "however; him and Agent Carter will only accept the best."

The men around me grin to each other at the thought of Carter. I roll my eyes and I see Lex laugh at my reaction. She then speaks up once again, "General, I wish to speak with Logan Howlett and Richard Hamburg." He nods and the three of us go to a private room in the bunkers.

Lex looks at the both of us and flashes us a small smile, "so, family reunited huh?"

Logan looks at her, "what are you talking about Lex?"

"James, are you really that blind?"

"It's Logan Alexsis. Blind to what exactly?"

She turns to me, "really?"

I sigh, there's no hiding it now that Lex brought up the topic. "Fine, but this is between him and us." My voice is regular and I'm slowly shrinking in height. Logan looks confused. I inhale deeply, "time for the big reveal."

I un-shift.

"Raven." Logan states

"Surprise?" I ask.


	10. Mockingbirds and Guns

"I'm only telling you this because you won't be able to tell anyone else." Those are the first words out of my mouth to Logan. He returns the statement with a cold glare. I return it without any signs of backing down. Me, treating my brother this way, it seems obscure that I would act this way.

My brother: the man I once looked up to. . . not anymore.

"And why won't I?" Logan breaks the silence and Lex begins walking towards me, holding my arms at my side. The lights are flickering and the warmth inside the room adds to the tension building.

"Because if you do, I can and will kill you, permanently," I smirk as I hear walking towards us. I shift back into Richard as the general opens the door, the cool air breaking the tension similar to a snowstorm breaking a Chinook wind.

"Back in line soldiers," the general orders, "we have a war to win." The three of us exchange glances for a quick second, and proceed to continue our training routine.

' _Be a mockingbird, but a gun at the same time!'_ The voice inside my head states.

'Why?'

' _Because,'_ the voice answers, ' _you can be innocent like a songbird, but have the unfair advantage over the enemy due to that. It is a sin to kill a mockingbird after all.'_

'You sound like that man, Atticus Finch I met that one time. Now quiet down. I have to get to Steve.'

-Le Timeskip-

In any other mission, I would be grateful for the natural cover the trucks have to keep us hidden while transporting. Tonight, it makes me uneasy.

If we can hide, so can our enemies.

The day came; the top 15 were selected and shipped off to assist the American Military fight "Hydra." Yes, this is cliché but I was selected. Tonight, for early spring, it is surprisingly warm. There is no wind and all is quiet. Even the crows that have been following us for the past week are holding their breath. The only sounds are of the truck engines transporting us to the base. That is why I am terrified.

"Logan," I whisper to him as quietly as I can. We are huddled together in groups of 5. All crouching together and are ready for action, in our hands, machine guns. Our uniforms have the Canadian flag on the arms and helmets cover our heads. Every bump in the road, every cough, every little sound makes my heart beat faster.

"Raven!" Logan whispers into my ear to grab my attention. I glare at him for using my real name, but he ignores it, "you alright?"

"I've got a bad feeling about this,"

"Really now? I thought this was a lovely walk in the park."

"I'm being serious, something isn't right."

"You're scared Hamburg," he replies, "we all are. Besides, I smell nothing." My hearts slows only by a bit as we pull to a stop. We file out of the trucks and begin walking to the camp, it feels good to straighten my knees and walk around after being cramped for 3 days in a vehicle.

"Why're we stopped?" Lucic asks as we look around and realise the truth, "this ain't the base."

Lemeux replies, even though no one can understand him "Truck est tombé en panne? Tenons-nous déplacer à pied, nous allons être plus calme." Everyone turns to him with a questioning look, he looks around sheepishly and turns to me, with pleading eyes.

"He said the trucks might've broken down. Let's move on foot," I translate as he obviously relaxes and the other men look around.

We begin along the wooded trail in single file. The dirt road is wet with dew and everything still remains silent. The woods around us give off an eerie, foreboding feeling as we pass. Our packs are heavy on our backs with the added weight of our guns; fatigue will soon be upon us. We walk until the front of the line begins to halt and circle something on the side of the trail. Lemeux and I look at each other and walk up to join the circle, curiosity taking over us.

The men are looking down at something, the two of us squeeze past all the men to catch a glance of the thing that has attracted the attention. I groan in disgust and fear when I see what it is.

It's one of those totems that I saw with Steve and Bucky. Except this one has black on it.

 **Hey guys, hope you enjoy it**

 **If you aren't understanding the totems so far that's fine. I can explain it as fast as I can.**

 **If you are familiar with the game Until Dawn, the totems are the exact same thing. Appearances and everything.**

 **If you do not know what I am talking about, in the game Until Dawn, there are these small totem pole models painted different colours. Black is death, red is loss (I haven't played in a while) white is fortune, etc. When you look inside the totem, it shows a possible event that can occur in the game. In the story the totems predict certain events that could occur if things do not change.**

 **Anyways, hope this helps. Happy reading! Feel free to contact me if you have questions comments or concerns.**

 **HopeWarlockSummers**


	11. Sass, Hockey and Maple Syrup

Alright you two, break it up!" I scream as I pull Logan off of poor Lemeux. Both are beaten pretty badly, which tells me that Lemeux fought back. Bad choice, yet a brave one. I respect this guy more and more each day. Lemeux is bleeding everywhere, while Logan has only bruises covering his face. Wonder who won the fight?

"Logan," I begin, grabbing his collar and pulling him off the ground, "what the hell were you doing?"

"Bub ran into me," is his answer. Logan, you are an idiot!

I push him into the cement bunker building, which leaves a crack in the wall, "are you insane?" I whisper to him in my regular voice. "Are you trying to break this chance we've got?"

"Watch yourself 'Richard'," he replies, with an emphasis on the name. I stare at him until I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Let him go soldier."

Steve. My face pales as I set down Logan and turn around to salute him, "yes Captain."

Steve looks at me with a cold stare, we are the same height. He's grown.

"What's your name soldier?" He asks me, looking me up and down.

"Hamburg, Richard Hamburg."

"Drop the fighting, men win wars as a team, not as individuals."

' _Steve, are you kidding me?!'_ The voice in my head, who I've named Box screams, ' _is the hat you wear on stage cutting the oxygen off to your brain? I didn't fight!'_

"Yessir," I say as Steve leaves. I catch a glance at Lex, who I quickly walk over to when everyone is continuing their drills. She motions for me to enter a tent. I follow her and she glares at me upon entering.

"Really Raven?!" She begins.

"Can I explain myself at least Lex?"

"No. Quit the attitude. Can't you go one day without pulling a stunt?"

"This one wasn't me this time..." I trail off as she looks at me confused, "...I stopped Logan from ending Lemeux. So yes, I can. Even if it's only around 12 hours."

Lex signs and places her head in her hands, "just try to get along with others. Be patient."

"Patience isn't my strong suit, you know that."

"All I'm saying is that maybe if you get on Steve's good side, he won't totally kill you when this is done."

"So I should tell him it's me?"

"What? No! That's a terrible idea! Just do it subtly."

I look at the table for a second, looking at the envelopes that are sealed with letters to families of deceased soldiers. Bucky went on a mission a week ago and still hasn't sent out anything. I'm getting worried. Peggy and Howard think something went wrong. I can't tell though. It's like a lightbulb goes on in my head when I come up with an idea.

"Lightbulb!" I say as I turn to face Lex, who looks at me with suspicion.

"What is it Rav-Richard? What's the idea?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't like it." I say smirking as I walk toward the entrance to the tent.

"What is it?" She asks. I turn to look at her, raising my eyebrows all while still keeping my stupid smirk.

Lex looks at me and sighs again, "Don't do anything stupid."

I laugh, "Sass master it is," Lex and I break out in laughs as I exit the tent.

I am so screwed.

-TIMESKIP-

It has been 2 weeks since I last saw Steve and I have not had any fights. So I can go more than 12 hours without fighting or popping my claws out. Good to know!

"Stop saying sorry men! We are in a war!" Steve yells at us as we practise our drills for combat with the other soldiers. It is kind of funny to a degree, we are Canadians. I can tell that it is frustrating for the Americans. Box tells me we should've brought some maple syrup as an 'apology for our apologizing.'

"But Captain, we're Canadians," I say as we line up once again, "we will go win the war, and then go apologise to Hydra for breaking their stuff." Time to be a smart-aleck.

Steve stops in front of me, and looks at me. As usual, I've got my stupid smirk on my face. "Hamburg, do you think this is funny?"

"Maybe, I can think of ways to help limit our apologizing."

Lex is silently killing herself laughing, and the rest of the Canadians are smirking or full out grinning. Some are silently chuckling; everyone knows where I am going with this, except for Steve.

"Then what do you think we should do then if you know your fellow troops so well?" Steve asks me, I tighten my low ponytail and look him in his blue eyes. I can't read them, but I think he's unamused. I can't blame him though; I'm a merc with a mouth.

"Easy," I begin, "give us wooden sticks and march us out onto the battlefield saying 'here you go men... Hydra has the puck.'"

So much for standing still, everyone is laughing really hard.

"Extra laps Hamburg," Steve says while looking at me with suspicion.

"I call Defenseman!" I yell as I begin my laps.


	12. Being Dumb

"So how did those two figure it out?" I ask while pointing at Peggy and Howard over my shoulder while at a little meeting Lex arranged. Earlier today, both had called me by my real name within the same hour.

"We lived together for how many years, and you did not think I would notice you?" Peggy answers my question, her hair nicely curled and makeup done perfectly to frame her face. She looks over at Lex, who is nodding with her.

"I figured it out on my own," Howard Stark states when the tent is silent once again, "I mean yes, Raven did a good job blending in, but some old habits blew your cover."

I turn my head and look at him, "Habits? Like what?"

"Cleaning yourself, for example."

"Just because I fight like a man doesn't mean I need to smell like one." Lex stifles a laugh abruptly and tries to hold in a smile. Her big hazel eyes are partly covered by her red hair as she sits on a crate. Her feet touch the floor easily compared to Logan and I, who dream of the very thought. Speaking of my brother, Logan is sitting beside her quietly, flexing his wrists. Probably bored as hell like me. I walk around the tent, for the first time in my regular female form. My hair is still tied back in its ponytail, but my clothes are at least four sizes too big as they drag behind me.

"Anyways, why'd you call this meeting Lex? Is something up?" I ask as I pick up another letter to the family of another deceased soldier. This one was named S. Hamilton, American descent. Both American and Canadian have lost so many soldiers against Hydra, it is unbelievable. Every day, more anger boils inside of me toward Hydra, and what they are doing around the world. I'm angry at what they have caused, and what could happen if they win. I'm worried about everything; I'm especially worried about Steve and Bucky. I don't know what would happen if I were to lose them.

"Yes Raven, Captain Rogers has learned what Hydra is planning to do. Sergeant Barnes has informed him about their plan to bomb many cities in the United States. He is taking a small team of 10 to-"

"Let's go," I say as I stand up.

"Raven, I can't let you go this time. Remember last time?" Logan grabs my arm and pulls me back onto my crate.

"Logan. That was only _one_ time, I was fine."

Lex raises her eyebrows, "According to the file of the rescue, you sustained 17 bullet wounds to the chest, a mild concussion and a dislocated index finger. Howard said it was a good thing you have that healing factor of yours, or you most likely would've died in battle. In fact, Logan had to carry you to safety because you passed out."

"So I was having a bad day, if only I had something like organic steel for skin. Besides I-"

"You were being dumb." Logan announces, "As your second-oldest brother, I'm not letting you go. And before you say anythin', Victor would do the same."

I can tell nothing I do is going to get me on this mission. I cross my arms and slouch a bit while grumbling a bit. Peggy invites me to stay with her and listen to the mission as it unfolds. I accept the offer and thank her for the offer.

Now I am even more worried. Not because I can't participate, but because of that last totem. I shudder at the very memory. No one knows what I saw except for me.

 _-Totem Flashback-_

 _"_ _BUCKY! NO!" Steve yells as Bucky falls into a snow covered forest._

 _-_

What do those totems mean? I have a bad feeling about this.


	13. Please Come Home

At 1300 hours, the men who are on the squad are ready to leave. I re-shift into my disguise and step out to bid them farewell.

"Now would probably be a good time to tell him," Lex says as she reaches up to my shoulder. She looks up at me with amusement; I can feel the blood rising to my face again.

"Not like this I can't."

"Don't be dumb Raven. You know what I mean. Besides, I think Bucky figured it out this past week."

"How the hell did he find out?!" I shriek as I turn around to face Lex. My voice cracked, no wonder boys sound so funny when they say things.

"I never say he did for sure!" Lex says as she puts her hands up in defeat, "All I said is that maybe he did. Look at Howard and Peggy. By the way, nice voice crack..."

I'm about to answer when Steve, Bucky, Logan, Lemieux and a few other nervous looking men march up to us. The men nod in my direction and then stand at attention.

"Dr," Steve says as he removes his helmet to show respect, "Hamburg."

"Captain," we say at the same time. Lex of course, intervenes, "Captain, can I talk to those men?" she points to the men I don't know. Steve looks behind him and nods.

Dammit, now I have no excuse.

"Raven, I'm gonna miss those snarky comments of yours this mission," Logan says to spark conversation. Immediately, Steve and Bucky look at me in confusion.

"Soldier, what is he talking about?"

I stare at the ground and kick a stone, "Umm... I need to tell you something is what Logan is trying to tell you."

They stare. I unshift.

The reactions start.

"RAVEN?! When? Why? How?! Why Raven? You could've been killed!" Steve yells as he drops his helmet and shield in surprise.

"Good one, but what did I say about being stupid before I came home?!" Bucky asks me while both men surround me. Bucky picks me up and hugs me, Steve follows.

"Brooklyn is boring without you guys. I couldn't live normally if you guys died."

"What makes you think we would leave you that easily?" Bucky asks me as he sets me down and straightens his uniform. Steve still looks shocked, almost mad.

"I was scared for you guys. So Lex helped me come up with my disguise and plan. Look I know it was risky, but-"

"Risky?" Steve says, tears are in his eyes. "Raven, the last mission you went on, you received-"

"I know," tears are now forming in my eyes, "I just care about you guys and I don't know what I would do without you guys. You're like my brothers to me. I'm just so angry about this Hydra shit and-"

"Language."

"-Hydra stuff and everything that I didn't want to be living without you guys, I wanted to help fight the battle. So I did."

Bucky hugs me again, and Steve follows suit. After a moment, they both stand and place their helmets back on. Steve grabs his shield and with our final good-byes, they walk away. Logan and five others follow them. Lemieux taps my shoulder, gaining my attention.

**A/N Translation will be in _italics**_

"Lemieux, avez-vous de ne pas laisser?" ( _Lemieux, don't you have to leave?)_

"Oui, je voulais juste vous dire combien je vous remercie de tout ce que vous avez fait pour moi. Je pense que Logan aurait pu me tuer sans toi ici." ( _Yes, I just wanted to say how much I appreciate all you have done for me. I think Logan could have killed me without you here.)_

I smile a bit and look at him. His grey eyes watch me closely, and he puts a hand through his black hair, "Votre accueil, quoi que ce soit pour un ami. Je souhaite juste que je pourrais venir avec vous cette mission, malheureusement, Logan ne le permettra pas." ( _Your welcome, anything for a friend. I just wish I could come with you on this mission, unfortunately, Logan will not allow it.)_

"Oui rester ici et se reposer. Vous avez fait beaucoup, même en tant que femme, je ne vous oublierai jamais pour votre courage. Vous êtes un héros à mes yeux Raven. Je dois y aller. Adieu Raven!" ( _Yes, stay here and rest. You have done so much, even as a woman._ _I will never forget you for your courage._ _You are a hero in my eyes Raven._ _I have to go._ _Good-bye Raven!)_

"Adieu!" ( _Good-bye!)_

With that, all the soldiers are gone. I watch them drive off until the truck is no bigger than a speck on the horizon. Lex and Peggy join me watch them drive away. As they guide me into the building where we will be able to see the reports, I wipe my eyes. Silently, I pray for their safety and that they will all come home alive and uninjured.

Time to focus on the task at hand, we need to finish this.

' _Steve, Bucky, Logan. Please come home,'_ I think to myself. ' _I love you guys.'_


	14. Tybalt's Revenge

**Hey guys, how's it going?**

 **We are finishing the Captain America: The First Avenger section of this story, we will be moving on to another section that involves comic version of Wade Wilson. Anyways, if you know Romeo and Juliet, you will see a slight reference (as usual.)**

 **Happy Reading,**

 **HopeWarlockSummers**

The silence.

The most unbearable, sticky silence hangs over us like a thundercloud. We are all sitting there, huddled over our work. Peggy and Howard are on the communication, while Lex and I are sitting at a table, doing files.

Let's make this clear- Lex is doing files, I'm listening to the radio Peggy is on. I can't concentrate on anything right now, for I am too worried about the boys. Although they promised me they would return, I have a gut feeling that at least one will not be coming back.

"Lex, you know the feeling you can get?"

Lex pauses, "Which feeling? The feeling where you are going to do something dumb? Yes I get that feeling a lot."

"Yes, that's exactly what I was talkin' about. No, the feeling where something bad is about to happen."

"A bit, just try to relax Raven. I know it was hard to say goodbye, but just think that how nice the world will be if we stop the Jackboots."

' _Milkweed anyone?'_ Box asks, what is a milkweed?

"I've lost contact with Logan," Peggy's voice rings clearly through room. Everyone stops what they are doing and is at her side very quickly. Howard takes the microphone and begins to tap it and fiddle with the wires. He pushes a few buttons and proceeds to tap the microphone once again.

"Logan?" Howard asks, he pushes another button, "Logan, are you there?"

White noise, maybe a few sounds of what sounds like punching.

Lex grabs the machine, "LOGAN HOWLETT, ARE YOU ALIVE?!"

Peggy takes the stick from her hands just as the noise clears, "Yeah bub, I'm good. Just had t' fight some jerks. Blew a hole in the train, lost 1 man. We're still good t' go, tell Lex and Raven they can breathe."

Lex takes a breath and proceeds to write in a file. Writing calms her, it always has. I quickly look under the table to see her right hand has a dull yellow glow around it. I take note of it and proceed with listening to Logan and Howard.

"-you know who fell out of the hole Logan, we need to write it down and send a letter to the family."

"Nay Stark. I can't help there. I was dismemberin' them Hydra people when they attacked."

"Too many details Howlett,"

"I'm the best there is at what I do, can't talk for now, gotta be quiet."

"Roger that." Howard turns off the machine and proceeds to write down some information.

I wonder who fell out of the train. The poor friends, and family of the soldier when they find out.

-Timeskip four hours because it's us doing absolutely nothing-

Four hours.

Four hours in a dark, cramped room. Doing nothing, hearing nothing from anyone. The air is deathly still, the feeling of a feather of lead is on my chest the entire time. Light flashes across the little window we have.

It's raining.

We hear white noise and then a voice,

"Come in, this is Captain Rogers. Do you read me?"

Lex grabs the microphone, "Steve is that you are you alright?"

"Alexsis! Schmidt's dead,"

I grab it, "What about the plane?"

"That's a little tougher to explain."

I can feel my face pale with fear, "give me your coordinates and we'll find you a safe landing site."

To my horror, Steve replies, "There's not gonna be a safe landing. But I can try and force it down." Howard hands me a file that has an address on it. I begin to get up, handing Peggy the microphone, and begin my sprint to the other room.

I have to get back to Steve.

I have to get back to Steve.

I have to get back to Steve.

My breathing gets heavier, which just makes the need to complete my mission even greater.

I have to get back to Steve.

I have to get back to Steve!

I HAVE TO GET BACK TO STEVE!

I throw open the doors, slightly panting from my sprint. I slow and look around, Peggy is crying and everyone is looking down, the silence is brutal. The only sound radiating off the machine is nothing.

What. Happened?

Lex turns to look at me, tears are in her now blue eyes, and the mist around her right is blue. She hugs me and begins to softly cry.

"I am so sorry," she whispers in my ear, she pulls away and begins to cry harder. I'm confused.

"Lex," I begin, "I'm confused, what happened?"

"Well..." she trails off, looking down at the floor. The dull lighting makes her red hair shine n the darkness, "The soldier who fell out of the plane is..." She sobs.

"Who was it Lex?"

"James Barnes. Not only that... oh Raven, I am so sorry for you. Oh my God."

"That's not all?" I ask, voice quivering as I try to hold in the tears, some are falling down my face already. What could possibly be worse than losing Bucky, one of my best friends?

"Steve just put the plane in the water... we don't think he made it either."

I stop crying and everything. I can't breathe.

No, they're not dead. Not Steve and Bucky, this is all a joke. Steve and Bucky told them to play this on me.

I look around, everyone is looking down, hats off.

Lex is serious.

No! She can't be serious! There's no way...

I break away from Lex and take off down the hallway again, tears blinding my vision as I run. I run until I see a small office door. I throw it open, hearing the hinges groan and slam it shut. I slide down one of the racks, and begin to bawl.

'I didn't even get to tell him,' I think to myself, 'all the opportunities I missed because I was too damn shy.' It's like that one totem- that-

Wait, the totem. One had Steve putting a plane in water. Another had Bucky falling out of a plane...

"The totems," I whisper to myself as I stand up. Arms crossed over my torso. The sudden realization fuels my anger from my sadness.

"THOSE STUPID TOTEMS TRIED TO WARN ME!" I scream as I throw a few things off the shelves, "WHY? WHY DID I NOT SEE THIS BEFORE?!" I continue to throw stuff around , scream and curse until the office is a mess. I need something else to destroy.

I know just the place.

"Lex," I ask when I'm done breaking things, "Are there any small Hydra bases we didn't blow up yet?" I grab a gun from a nearby shelf and load a bag with ammo.

Lex doesn't even look at me a soldier I have always despised answers, "Yes, off the coast of Alaska. Raven, what's done is done, calm down and let's talk of peace."

I stare at her, anger burning brightly inside, "What, draw and talk of peace? I hate the word as I hate hell, all Hydra, and thee. Let me go coward!"

Lex sighs, "Fine, I'll get you a plane or something, just...please make a rational decision. No need to be the Firery Tybalt Raven, lady of cats." I can tell she's not in the mood to argue.

I leave to ready myself for the ride to Alaska.

"They take my friends," I say to myself as I walk through the building, "I take their lives."


	15. Kidnapped in Calgary

Okay, so let's think this whole thing through.

Positives of unleashing my grief and anger on a small Hydra base in the middle of Nowhere in Particular Alaska. Number 1, by blowing it to smithereens gets rid of all the known Hydra bases. Number 2, I get to be as violent as I want.

"That's a negative."

I shoot my gun, "Shut it Hydration Freak number 23, I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to them." As well, there's the whole thing of 'you're a hero' at the end of this, with discounts and fame and all that Jazz. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to be a hero.

"But it's even better to be a hero beside your best friends!" I throw a grenade into the now silent building. I begin to sprint a safe distance away from the base as it explodes into a fiery pit of my despair. I am thrown into a snow bank as the wind from the explosion hits my back. Carefully I get up, and sling my bag over my shoulder.

I watch the flames as I consider my actions, and the fights that came with them. Getting into the base was easy, shot the guards and climbed over the chain fence to the other side. The difficult part came from the assassins and agents inside. Let me tell you, you have not had the fight of your life until you have to fight some Russian assassin. The one left me with at least a few broken ribs, while another gave me another concussion. You could say I took a beating inside. However, the tables turned once I pulled my claws out. I'll leave what happened to you readers, but this wasn't a war.

No, it was a massacre.

I start walking. The fresh snow crunches under my boots as I saunter.

' _Do you think we overreacted?'_ Box asks me, it's voice quivering.

 _"_ What do you mean?"

 _'_ _Like, think. Do you think Steve and Bucky would've wanted us to react to their deaths like that? We just caused a bloodbath.'_

I stop, "I don't know. I don't...know. Oh God, what the fondue have I done?" Did I mess up? Yes, yes I did. "What should I do?! Should I try to contact Lex o-or Peggy?"

' _No, don't do that. We're on our own here kid. Let's trek back to Calgary; there's gotta be Victor, or someone who can help us.'_

"But why can't we contact Lex or Howard or Peggy?"

 _'_ _Too dangerous, plus we technically have like...23 confirmed kills at least. They'll be the ones after us. Our best bet is running.'_

I don't want to run, but if I can find Victor, he can help me. With a sigh, I adjust my bag, and jog against the cold winds. April 19, 1945. I am 149 years old, and on the run.

-Timeskip cause I'm lazy-

"Welcome to Calgary miss," a man greets me and holds out his hand. "Where are you originally from?"

"Thank you, I'm originally from Cochrane," I say as I shake his hand. He looks at his watch. I begin to walk away; however, he grabs my upper arm and forces me to walk with him.

"You're a mutant. You can heal and have reduced aging with extra bone creating retractable claws. I need you to come with me."

"What the- first off, who the heck are you, and how do you know me?" That's the best I can come up with? Wow I am pathetic and cliché, holy crap.

"You can call me Professor Thoron, I work at a top-secret government agency that can give you powers you can only dream –"

I roll my arm out of his grip, "Thanks for the invitation, but I have to refuse. I'm looking for someone named-" Someone grabs my shoulder and I turn around. I smirk immediately.

"Hi Victor. Long times no see, anyways, I was just telling Lex Luthor over there to leave me alone."

"It's alright Raven, I know him, go with him. You'll be fine, he's undertaking an experiment where he records different mutations. Sleep well."

"Wha-" I begin, but I've got no time, I feel a pinch in my neck as my whole body turns cold and freezes. Faster than a hydration agent, I collapse to the pavement.


	16. Welcome to Weapon X

I wake up with a throbbing head, and a sore torso. I try to force myself to sit up, only for pain to shoot up my arms. I drop my arms, letting gravity drag me back down to the stone floor. My vision clears and I can fully take in my surroundings. It is cold, stones cover the floor and the dim lights reflect on the steel barred cages in the room. I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling, only to see a giant X painted above my head.

I manage to sit up, ignoring my pounding headache. I notice that I'm inside a cage as well. There's a white board on the door of my cell. I slowly stand up and walk over to the board as I grip the bars on my cell. Eventually I pull the board in between the bars and skim over the words.

NAME: N/A

CLASS: M

POWER(S): Healing, bone claws

IDENTIFICATION: Weapon V

FACILITY: Weapon X program.

SPECIALTIES: Bad Wolf/Redd Phoenix

"Don't let them learn your name," a girl across from me whispers. She has brown hair and brown eyes. Her clothes are torn and covered in what looks like blood. I glance at her card and notice her name, Taylor Oswin.

"Why not?" I ask her, she is about to answer, when the door opens. She glances at me; I can see the fear in her eyes as four men walk through the line of cells. All four stop at my cell and unlock the door. They stick my hands and lower arms in handcuffs, preventing me from fighting them with my claws.

I begin resisting the strong men, thrashing in their arms, kicking and screaming curse words the entire length of the room. The men remain silent until we reach the door. One of them slaps my face, "shut up!"

"Parley," I reply to the men, remembering what school taught us in social class about Pirates.

The one man stops, "what'd you say?" His sleeve was pulled up from my thrashing, revealing a brand in the shape of a P. I smile to myself, a pirate.

"Parley. I invoke the right to parley. According to the Code of the Brethren set down by Pirates Morgan and Bartholomew, you have to take me to your captain, or in this case, the person in charge," I state.

"I know the code." He replies.

"If an adversary demands parley you can do them no harm until the parley is complete."

"What does she want Pintel?" A new voice speaks, I don't recognize it, probably because my head still hurts.

Pintel answers, "It be a pirate code Sabertooth. She wants the right to-"

"Take me to your leader." I state over the answer. With that, the men drag me up three flights of stairs and through more caged rooms until we reach an office.

Pintel knocks, "Sir, Weapon V commands parley."

"What is parley?" a voice calls from inside, "is this another pirate thing?"

"Yes."

I hear a sigh, "bring Weapon V in."

The doors swing open by themselves, and I am dragged into the office and cuffed to an old, torn chair.

"Hello Weapon V, did you have a nice sleep?" I look to my left, a man is standing at my shoulder. He's very black and white. His black suit matches his black hair and black eyes, but he is super pale underneath all that.

"You asked the pirate for 'parlay?'" He asks, he tips my chair back at a 45 degree angle, which takes me by surprise.

"Yes, parley," I answer, "what do you want? Why are you calling me weapon-whatever? Explain yourselves and take me back!"

"Very well Miss…"

"Howlett. Raven Howlett."

"Very well Miss Howlett." He lowers my chair back onto the ground. "We are the Weapon X program. Designed to give both humans and mutants like yourself powers they could only dream of, I am William Stryker, one of the leaders here. Myself, along with many others help volunteered persons become the soldier, or weapon they could only dream of as-."

"I didn't volunteer."

"I know, and I am terribly sorry about that..." Stryker mumbled something under his breath that I couldn't understand. He stands back up and tilts my chair again. "You are special Raven; your power of healing can help us discover so many things scientists could never learn. Imagine, finally becoming known to humanity. Not just a simple legend like you currently are."

"I-wait, what? What do you mean 'legend?'"

"How can a person have no evidence of being alive? No birth certificate, no historical evidence either. The reason we know of you is because of Sabertooth, and oral legends of a family of mutants who could live forever."

I look at him. No evidence of being alive, how can that be? I was born in 1796, perhaps that's why. Who knows for sure? I'm going to find out about this when I leave.

I think of what Stryker just said. Science could be advanced if I help them. I think of Steve and Bucky, they would want me to do what would benefit other people. "Fine, I'll do it. Just promise you'll do right by me. So I can do right by someone else." I answer to him.

Stryker grins and sets me down, "excellent, Weapon V is a go. Pintel, Ragetti, Sabertooth, take Raven back. Experiment Xylophelium starts tomorrow." The three man grab me by the arms and begin to drag me back down to the dungeon. I once again begin to resist.

"Wait!" I scream, "wait, we had a deal, you would take me back to Calgary-"

"No where in our deal stated that we had to take you to Calgary so you were not specific enough, since this parley is done we shall take you back to your cell." Pintel says to me as my feet smack the stairs as we go toward the cells.

"Welcome to Weapon X, Miss Howlett!" Ragetti states, as they throw me into my cell.

 **TIMESKIP**

"Hey Raven, you alright?"

I wake up at the sound of a voice, I sit up and make my way to my feet, with the stones beneath me. "Who said that?"

"Across from you, you alright? You passed out after Sabertooth and his lackies pitched you back here." It's Taylor Oswin.

"I'm fine, thanks uh Taylor?"

"No problem," she smiles at me, her brown eyes are faded and have bags underneath them, "by the way…I told you not to give them your name."

I remember her warning, "why?"

"It's not wise to let someone like that know your name y'know."

"Yes I get that, but why?"

"I made the same mistake, you need a different name now that Stryker and Ajax know your name. Besides, there are already too many Ravens out there. With Raven Darkholm, and Anna "Rogue" Raven…Yes, new name."

I stare at her, "like…"

She thinks about it for a moment, "how you feel 'bout Keegan? Unofficial, but enough to keep guys like them off your back in the outside world."

"I like it," I state, after thinking over it and saying it to myself, "has a nice ring to it."

Taylor laughs, "won't have a nice ring when you are turned into a master assassin."

I stare at her in shock, "assassin?! Don't you know who I am?!"

"Hmm, should I?" She raises her eyebrows at me.

"My name is Raven Howlett."

"Yea, I've heard of ya. Everyone thinks you're a myth 'cuz no one's ever seen you."

Before I can say anything else, the lights go out, leaving us in pure darkness. I hear Taylor laugh, "night Keegan!"

I sigh, "night Taylor."


	17. Ajax and Steel

p style="line-height: 1.8em; color: #333333; font-family: -apple-system, '.SFNSText-Regular', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;""How does one survive this place?" I ask myself as our experiment floor is lined up for counting. I can't remember anything about the outside world. I don't even know how many days have passed since I first was style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "Well, lucky for you, there's always 'Taylor's declassified Weapon X survival guide," Taylor whispers beside me. I look at her and show a shy smile. We got new clothes today. Brown thin pants that are ripped at the knee or lower, it depends on your height and a brown shirt with a letter on it. I have a V on mine. Meanwhile, Taylor has the word 'nulla.' In total, there are five people on this floor. We received shoes, however, they gave me size 9. I am a size 5. Due to this, I go barefoot through anything Stryker, Thorton or anyone puts us style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "Nulla!" Stryker shouts at the style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "Present," Taylor replies immediately. br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "I!" Stryker shouts style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "Present," comes from another voice to my style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / The list goes on until it pauses for a quick minute as a new man comes into our floor. Stryker and the man say something to each other, before they point at me. I feel my face run pale and I look at the ground until he style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "V!" Stryker style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "P-present," I stutter in response. I see Stryker smirk and write something down. He releases us back to our cells. Once he locks us in and leaves the room, the tension in the room style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "I thought that em style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important;"thing/em left!" a boy with 'III' on his shirt says. He has big brown eyes and dark brown hair. He is sitting in the corner the closest to a black haired girl, who is holding his style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "Alex, that bag o' bolts would be thick as a plank if it left," the girl with 'IV' on her shirt says, obvious Irish accent in her voice, "Taylor, what ya think?"br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "Excuse me for this," I step into the conversation, "but who are we talking about?"br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / Taylor laughs, "not who Keegan. We're talkin' 'bout that thing that came into roll call today."br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / I must have a confused look on my face, for Alex speaks up, "you don't want to meet that thing. Bad things happen if you do, especially if you make him mad."br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / Four men come unlock my cell today. Ever since my first day with the Pirate, I have had to be moved around by five people, and it usually takes a few nasty injuries for them just to move me. As usual, I am placed in cuffs up to my elbows. Only today, my knees, calves, and ankles are tied together tightly to prevent me from kicking out. br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "Give 'em a head start this time Keegan!" Taylor yells after us, gripping the bars of her cell and laughing like a maniac. "Let them get to the stairs today before you knock 'em out!"br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / I laugh. I can tell that these guys are very intimidated around me. However, anxiety boils inside of me as they take me away. I try to calm myself down with deep breaths, but it fails and sends me into deeper panic. What are they going to do to me today?br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / The men drag me up six flights of stairs, all while I am simply being dead weight today and squirm around as much as I can. Once we reach a padded platform, the men lift me up and try to restrain my arms and legs. I look around at my surroundings. There are other people in similar positions as I am, while some are in glass cages. Surrounding almost all of them, are dark green curtains, making the room resemble a medical style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "That'll do men. You are free to go." A slightly robotic voice calls out from behind a curtain. The men quickly scatter to reveal a man- no, a robot of some sort. While the body is covered in blue robotic armour and is clearly electric, the head is clearly human. What used to be a left hand now resembles a gun of some sort. br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / My breath quickens and I try to free myself as that thing inches closer to me. It sits down and looks at me. It speaks in its robotic voice, "Raven Howlett, such an honour it is to meet you."br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / I remember what Alex told me, "p-pardon me, b-but can I ask who you a-a-are?"br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / The robotic man smirks maliciously, "very well. I am Ajax. I will be working with you."/p  
p style="line-height: 1.8em; color: #333333; font-family: -apple-system, '.SFNSText-Regular', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" /p  
p style="line-height: 1.8em; color: #333333; font-family: -apple-system, '.SFNSText-Regular', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Lucida Grande', Tahoma, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; background-color: #fefefe; clear: none !important;" "What are my rights in here? Or can I ask that?" I ask, carefully thinking of what I say to this robot... style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / Ajax raises his eyebrow, "you have experience." He then laughs, "Right to food, water, clothing, medical attention, shelter, remaining silent, and knowing what is happening," He loosens my restraints a little bit, "anything else is a privilege. Did no one tell you about why you're here?"br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / I shake my head, "I would like to use my right to know what the hell is happening, what are you going to do to me?" As I ask this, I feel a pinch in my right arm, as Ajax begins to take blood from my inner arm. I watch the vile fill up with the red substance as he remains style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / He stands up after a few minutes and grabs a clipboard, and quickly skims over a few pages. "You see Raven, you are very special. Now when we say that, no we don't mean special as in 'superhuman abilities.' While yes, you have unnatural abilities, like your claws, your cells can reproduce and heal faster than any disease or injury can harm you. Your biology and genetic makeup is very unique. You can heal, as well as seemingly live forever." He places the clipboard down and shows me a vile, "this contains your DNA. I am going to study it to see if your powers make you the mutant we have been looking for."br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / I look at him. I don't trust him, but maybe I can get some answers since it's a right, "looking for what?"br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / Ajax smiles, "Experiment Xylophelium. Binding a chemical mixture of adamantium and vibranium to the entire human skeleton. Your gifts may be able to bring scientific research to a whole new level of understanding of the human body. Weapon V, I must study your DNA through your blood."br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / My pulse rises again, making me able to hear my heartbeat in my ears. I'm going to die, "Why do you need me then? I mean, you have other people on the same floor as me. Why not..." I trail off as I realise what the symbol on your shirts mean. Zero, three, four, and five. One and two are style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / They have tried, and style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / Ajax smiles at my realization, "prisoner zero, three, and four are not...qualified. We thought maybe the others were, we assumed wrong."br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / I look at him confused, and then I see what looks like a nametag on his left side. "Ajax? That's not what your nametag says."br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "What are you-"br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "It says Francis. F-R-A-N-C-I-S. Francis." I say as I squint to read the letters aloud in the dim style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / Francis' stare turns from neutral to pure anger in a matter of seconds. I immediately regret what I said as he tightens my restraints and lowers the table. He places a cloth in my mouth as I start yelling curses and screaming for him to back away from style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "I'm not going to kill you." Francis says as he injects my left arm with a clear fluid. He then grabs what looks like a large knife and a welding mask. "I'm just going to hurt you. Really, really, em style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important;"really/em bad."br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / Immediately, I feel a terrible pain rise into my left arm. I try to scream, but the cloth resists, and soon begins to choke me as I struggle. My heartbeat is rising quickly and I am entering a panic as Francis continues on my arm. All I can see is tons of red and sparks before the pain overwhelms me. My vision fades, everything stops. Am I dying? Maybe I will see Steve and Bucky again if I style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / I return to the darkness where I hope to stay, but know that I never style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /-TIME SKIP-br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / Pain is the first thing that registers. My left arm is throbbing with pain that pound inside of me like the drums of a marching band. I notice that I am back in my cell, and try to brace myself to sit up, except I can't seem to move my left style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "Keegan?!" I hear Taylor screech from across the alleyway. I turn my head to face her. Tears are forming in both of our eyes. "Thank the Jedi Knights you're alright! I couldn't connect to you through the Force and I got so worried. Listen, don't try your arm yet."br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "Taylor, what did he do to me?" I ask through sobs, my arm still style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / "I dunno what you did Keegan, but Ajax was furious at you. Look at your arm, how didn't you die?!" By now, the other two adolescents are at the edges of their cages, staring at me in total style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" /br style="line-height: 1.8em; color: inherit !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; clear: none !important; content: margin-top: 0.8em; display: block;" / I look at my arm for the first time, and nearly throw up at the sight. Welded to my arm and covered in blood is a steel bar./p 


	18. Binding and Two Hearts

"Tomorrow is the day Taylor," I say as she returns from her little "Doctor's appointment" with Stryker. She's once again covered in her own blood and is… making a crack in the wall?

"Oswin, are you mad?" Alex shouts at her as Taylor finishes her crack. I toss her a roll of gauge and bandages for her to begin treating herself. She nods her thanks and begins wrapping her wounds.

"I'm fine," she replies, never looking up from her first aid. "They injected me with some of Keegan's blood. So if I start to share characteristics with her- we all know why. Anyways, tomorrow's what Keegan? You're taking flight tomorrow?

"No no, you go first. My blood? Why?"

Taylor stops bandaging her shin. Already the bandages are turning a shade of bright red. "That's the thing Keegan, I don't know. Didn't Ajax tell you anything?"

I think back to what I think is a few months ago, "He said my cells regenerate faster than anything could kill me, and-"

"That's it! They've found what they're lookin' for. Alex, I wouldn't be surprised if we're next. I mean, they did something to me yesterday and I don't even know anymore." Micky replies as she jumps out of her makeshift bed. Last night they took her upstairs, and they did not return until this morning. Throughout the night none of us slept, for the sounds of Micky screaming sent shivers down our spines.

"Keegan? You alright?" Micky asks, waving her hands and jumping up and down to gain my attention.

"What? Oh sorry, lost in thought." I reply.

"Taylor asked what tomorrow is," Alex continued.

"Oh ya, Francis was talkin' to Stryker and Thorton. They be deciding something. Box figured out tomorrow be the day Experiment Xylophelium occurs. I probably won't walk away from it." I answer, mentally shuddering at how bad my speech has become lately. I need to start fixing that right now.

All three teens stop. Taylor stands up and grips the bars of her cell, "Keegan, you're gonna walk away. You're gonna be walkin' with badass claws and skills and the four of us will escape the next day."

"Why the next day?" Alex asks.

Micky looks at Taylor just as confused, "Why not escape right after the experiment?"

Taylor thinks on it, "They will be expectin' us to make an escape tomorrow. They'll be ready for it, 'cause I imagine it'll piss Keegan off due to pain. Also, Keegan will gain a lot of weight. I mean, think of it _metal_ covering the skeleton. She will need at least a day to adjust and rebalance again before she can physically do anything like fight."

"It makes sense," I say, looking over to the others, "that way I wouldn't slow us down because o' fatigue or excess gravity."

"Keegan, we never went to school." Micky reminds me, again. "We don't understand when you talk like that."

"That way I won't be tired, and I will be used to the extra weight." My Canadian accent sounding mundane compared to her Irish.

Alex chimes in, "How about around three days after the experiment? That way Keegan can adjust, no one will expect it, and we will be fresh. I imagine that they'll be proud of themselves an' won't work for a few days."

"Done!" Taylor confirms, looking at the crack in the wall, "Keegan, you better rest. You got a big day tomorrow."

 **Timeskip**

Bright lights blind my vision as I am wheeled into an operation room. I force my head up to observe my surroundings. I'm wearing a white top cropped to reveal my midriff, shoulders and arms. As well as thin white shorts which only cover half of my thighs. My long shaggy hair is hanging loose, covering my eyes again.

The room contains a table hanging over a water tank. Nearby, are needles filled with a grey substance that has a gold tint to it. Behind the tank is a large computer, which is where the experiment will be controlled. Surrounding everything are ten men, wearing military uniforms. As I am strapped to the table, Stryker begins speaking. Everyone's eyes are on me.

"Generals," Stryker begins, "welcome, to Experiment V."

"V?" One of the men behind me asks, I try to look behind me, but I can't.

"Roman numerals," Stryker answers, "Five. Anyways, welcome to history. Today, July 15th 1966, history will be made. Today, we will be binding Xylophelium- a mixture of Adamantium, Vibranium, and a hint of Pyrite to the lower arms of our candidate, Raven Howlett."

"Stryker as brilliant as you, Thorton, and Ajax are, I do have questions." The oldest general says as he sits down. "One, why this mixture of the rarest metals in the world? Secondly, you sent me an invitation reading the _entire_ human skeleton would be covered."

I'm curious myself for Stryker's answer, why did this change?

"Very good questions general, I can answer that." Francis replies before Stryker can, his robotic voice adds to the chilling feeling in the air. "The mixture of Adamantium and Vibranium, the two strongest metals this earth has create one unbreakable metalloid as we call it 'Xylophelium.' With them combined, nothing can break it, except for Xylophelium itself. We had to add Pyrite into the mixture because when broken down, Adamantium and Vibranium together create an unstable and unbalanced chemical formula. Pyrite balances it and makes the metalloid easier to be grafted. Without Pyrite, it would be extremely flammable and explosive. To answer your second question, the original plan was to cover Weapon V's entire skeleton in Xylophelium. Unfortunately, we could not gain enough Vibranium to form the substance. We found enough to cover the lower arms, and the excess bone growth to create the world's strongest blades."

There is murmuring among the men, they are discussing what Francis just told them. I stop at the thought of what year it is.

' _1966?!'_ Box screams inside my head, making me flinch, ' _and we thought only a few months had gone by! Holy shatter stacks Raven; we've been in this hell hole for 21 years! We gotta get out of here!'_

1966? That can't be right; we've only been here for around three months maybe? Maybe four? Right? I don't even remember what the outside world looks like. Did we win the war? What did the sky look like at dusk? Did they find Steve or Bucky? Am I assumed to be dead? Probably. This whole timey whimey thing is giving me a headache.

"Ajax, start the procedure." Is all I hear. Quickly I am gagged with a mask that sends oxygen into my lungs. I feel the water begin to surround me as the table is lowered, sending chills down my back and throughout my body. The skimpy clothing does not help keep any body heat, for I am already freezing cold. Soon I am completely surrounded by water. I close my eyes to stop the burning sensation from keeping them open.

Then the real pain begins.

I feel like I've been stabbed and shot by hundreds of Hydra men all at once. All through my arms, they burn!

I can't take it much longer. I start to fight. Kicking out and thrashing around I try to get the pain to go away, but no matter what I do it gets worse. My oxygen mask breaks off during my struggle. Now I can't breathe either! I hear my heartbeat increasing, and increasing.

Increasing.

Increasing.

INCREASING! I open my eyes; I make out the blurs of people running around trying to do something. My vision starts to turn black. That's when I feel it. The most horrid feeling in my chest, as if I'm being ripped in two. I scream. My chest and my arms are going numb from the pain.

All the pain and feeling ceases. My vision turns completely black as I feel my heartbeat stop.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Clapping.

I can hear clapping. I feel a rush of air as the table is removed from the water. Two men lift me off the table, and almost fall over at my new weight.

I'm alive? How?

"Miss Raven, you survived!" I look over to see a blurred face at my right. As I am lead to a chair, I can see that it is Pintel, from my first day at Weapon X. He helps me sit down, and leaves. Francis is quickly in front of me, doing a physical exam.

"You gave us a near heart attack my dear," he says as he begins checking the circulation in my hands.

"What?" I whisper, voice barely working.

"You flat lined in the water. We lost you for 5 minutes. Almost called the experiment a failure, but you managed to come back." I stare at him, how could I have died? Didn't I just pass out?

Francis grabs a stethoscope and puts it over my heart. He gives a confused look, and moves the stethoscope. He looks even more confused.

"Stryker, get me an x-ray!" He shouts over his shoulder, "Something's up with her heart!"

Stryker and Sabertooth bring foreword a small machine, and place it on my chest. They stare at the screen, as their eyes widen in shock.

"Miss Howlett," Stryker says to me and shakes my hand, "not only are you the first successful weapon, but you also now have two hearts."


	19. Escape Part 1

Three days have passed.

"Hey Keegan," I open my eyes to the sound of Micky's voice. It's sometime in the middle of the night. I stand up and walk to the edge of my cell.

"Micky? What're you doing up" I ask her. I can barely make out her silhouette. It reminds me of that night with Logan, all those centuries ago. July 15th 1810 I believe was the date. My birthday, the night we heard about father, the night my life took a sharp turn.

"You have seemed distant since you've gotten yer claws...what's wrong?" She asks. I have yet to tell anyone about my hearts. I'm worried that the others would deem me unable to make the escape. I can't let them do that. I have to get out of here. I've spent 21 long years in this prison.

"I have a condition." I answer, I see Micky shuffle in her cell closer to the gate.

"What?"

"I'm not a Doctor, but something happened to me in the water." ( **Get the pun anyone?)**

"Keegan, you're not makin' any sense, start from the beginning please." Micky raises her voice from a whisper. The others shuffle from the noise, but eventually become still again.

"Okay, okay. Listen, when I was being experimented on, something happened with my heart. I don't really know what, but...this is going to sound crazy."

Micky sits still, listening intently, "I'm listening."

"My heart split into two. I have two hearts."

Micky stands up and walks around her cell, probably trying to understand. "This happened three days ago?"

"Ya."

"And you don't feel any different?"

"Other than I have two hearts beating out a samba, I feel fine."

"Wow. Um, Alex will know more. He knows people who have had two hearts before."

I stop and look at her, what does she mean Alex knows more? What would Alex have done before this? "Wait-what? How does he-"

"I'll let him explain that, but are you alright to escape today?"

I walk around, swinging my arms. I release my claws; they puncture the skin and make the sound of sharpened knives as they are released. I swing them around and then sheath them once again. "I'll be fine. I'm used to the weight; my arms will be buff soon though."

Micky laughs quietly, "alright, if you say so. We'll talk with the others in the morning."

I watch her silhouette as she begins to lie down again. I then begin to remember how she has always covered her entire left arm. No matter if it's clothing or bandages. I have never seen her left arm.

"Micky?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened to your arm?"

She stops, "uh...same thing to you, steel bar from Ajax... except it's a lot more uh... complicated? Yeah, i-it's kinda a long story. Y'know?"

She's hiding something. What it is I don't know. All I know that something happened to her arm, and I can guess it was forced. "Ok...Night Micky."

"Night Redd Phoenix." Micky says as I fall back asleep.

 **Time Skip to morning**

"Up and at 'em Sleeping Beauty, it's Game Day!" Taylor yells as I jolt awake. I rub my eyes and see that I am the last awake. I walk over to the edge of my cell, as close as I can get to the others.

"Thanks for the wakeup call Taylor," I say as I rub my eyes again. "So what's the plan?"

"Well first off, Micky said you had some info to tell us. We were waiting for you to get your ass out of bed before we planned." Taylor replies with a blank expression. From the look on Micky's face, I'm guessing she told them.

"Well...There's something you guys really should know, but we're not stopping because of me."

"Don't tell me you're dying from lead poisoning?" Taylor replies, Alex's eyes are widening as we speak.

"No. It's about anatomy."

"Oh God! If you're going to teach us about physio-whatever the hell you said last week, just stab me with your claws right now!"

"Taylor shut it! It's actually important!" Micky snaps, Taylor backs off as her eyes glow purple.

"My heart ripped itself in two during the experiment. I have two fully functional beating hearts in my chest right now. Alex, Micky said you know about stuff like that?"

Alex rolls his eyes, "Yes, I knew a man with two hearts. Took my brother away with him and I barely ever saw him again. Took him in a while ago or something like that- I can't even remember! He could be anywhere now, WITHOUT ME!"

I look at him, shocked at his outburst. "Alex, we were here 'a while ago.' What do you mean? Are you alright?"

His gaze softens, and he takes a breath. "Sorry. I've not from around here. You could say I've seen all sorts of things. Time always gets messed up with me. Just tell me something, when you got two hearts, did you get a gold glow around you? I mean, could you see golden light around you?"

I think back to three days ago, "no. It was just me, water and Xylophelium."

"Good, you're not like... _him_. Fantastic. Anything else?"

I look around at the three teenagers, "yes. How old were you all when you were brought here?"

Alex looks at me, "19 years old."

"I don't remember." Taylor states, looking quite nervous all of a sudden.

"I was probably 'round 16 years." Micky states, while playing with her hair. "Why? How old were you Keegan?"

"I was..." I trail off, trying to do the math. How do I explain that I'm 170 years old? I don't... "24."

"Bull. You look like a teen." Taylor says crossing her arms.

"Ya well, talents include looking 12 and saying 'thank you' to the bus driver. But I will say this now, and explain later. I'm actually 170 years old."

"How?" Micky says, raising her eyebrows. Alex is looking me over. _'BOYS!'_ Box screeches in my head.

"I'm a mutant."

"That's true. Well hey, looking good." Alex says with a flirtatious smirk.

"Great, now you all know my little secret. Does anyone know what the year is?"

They shake their heads.

"1966 is the current year. It is July 18th 1966. I learned that during the experiment."

"What?!" Micky screams out, before gripping the cell bars.

"Dammit Doctor! Where are you?!" Alex hisses under his breath.

Taylor remains silent and glances strangely at Alex. Her eyes turn orange for a second before returning to their original colour. "So now that we are all caught up, are we gonna escape this hell hole or what?" She asks. We all nod, knowing that we now need to leave.

We begin discussing our plan, it's pretty simple. "We need a name though," Micky interrupts.

"What do you mean?" I ask, looking up at her.

"Like an escape name. Gotta be memorable right? Kick Ajax's ass with a name!"

"I like it," Taylor intervenes, "any ideas?"

Alex smirks and laughs a bit, "I got one, a name...inspired from a so-called 'monster' I've met in the past."

 **-Time skip brought to you in part by 20-1 math class (because wtf is a quadratic)-**

"Stand back," I whisper to the others as I release my claws. "I don't want to hurt you guys with shards of metal."

With one swift motion, my claws slice through the bars of the cage. I stand back for a moment as the door falls. We all stand in complete silence before I continue.

"Too loud Keegan," Taylor states as she walks to the front of her cell once again. "Just swipe the damn locks on ours. We can get out undetected."

I nod in agreement, walking over to the other three cells, and breaking the locks with my claws. Sparks fly as I cut the wiring of the little electric box. Alex, Taylor and Micky swing the doors of their cell open, and carefully walk out of them.

"This way," Alex signals us to follow him. We head to the main door of our floor, only for Micky to stop him.

"We can't be seen! There's gotta be another way." She says. We look around to see a door in the back corner of the room behind Taylor's empty cell.

"There," I whisper." Alex and Micky glace at the door and jog over to it, opening it carefully.

"Wait!" Taylor whisper-yells at us, eyes orange again and filled with fear, "I can't go there!"

"Why not Taylor?" Alex asks, almost closing the door.

"There's other prisoners up there!"

"So? It's our only hope to getting outta here in one piece." I say as I grab her arm and drag her through the doorway. Alex closes the door and uses an odd looking stick to close it. The stick glows a royal blue colour and has a high pitched sound, as the door locks behind us.

"Never thought someone would look at a screwdriver and say 'this could be a little more sonic.' This is actually really handy, not as good as Jack's gun though." Alex says as he places the stick back in the pocket of his ripped pants.

"How did you keep that thing?" Micky asks as we proceed up the stairs. "They took my wand and all of Taylor's weapons. Put 'em in the storage on this floor I saw."

"Easy thing Mic," Alex says behind us, "Screwdrivers aren't weapons. "I can't curse someone to death with this thing." I can see Micky physically tense up in front of me. What are they not sharing?

What are we all not sharing?

"Quiet you guys, time to grab our weapons and make a run for it." Taylor whispers at us as Alex opens the door to the next level of cells. The cells are filled with people; some have more than one person per cell. Everyone looks so unhappy, as if they've lost their wills to live anymore.

"Keegan!" Taylor grabs my arm, "Let's find our weapons and get hell outta dodge!"

"Wait- can't we rescue them?" I say, close to tears.

Taylor looks around; most of the people up here are adults. Some have noticed us and are at the front of their cells. "No."

"Why not Taylor?"

"I said no, c'mon!" She shouts, eyes once again turning orange and her teeth turn sharper for a split second. "I'm sorry, I know it's the superhero thing to do, but we can't."

"Well well well, if it isn't Prisoner Zero, oh I'm sorry or should I say, _Taylor Oswin."_ A man who looks around his mi-twenties speaks up in a taunting manner.

Taylor stops and turns around, "Wade Wilson. What the hell do you want from me now?!"

Wade grins, "oh nothing big. Just for you to turn yourself in, or to go back through that bag ass crack in the wall."

Taylor smirks maliciously, "I don't know what you're talking about, you insane prick."

A woman speaks up, this time with a British accent, "I told him everything, and the Atraxi will find you and make sure you pay for your crimes!" Taylor begins to pale and back up.

"No, she should be returned to the empire, Palpatine would love to finish her completely. Traitor!" Another man says, "We destroyed your ship! Are you happy with what you have done?! Solo is in carbonite and the Skywalker is nowhere to be found!"

Taylor sinks to her knees, hands covering her face as she begins crying. The prisoners all around her now throwing insults at her, either telling her to go through a crack in a wall, or to take her "Jedi abilities to the pits of hell." What is going on?

I release my claws and aim them at the man who started this, Wade. "Shut. The hell up!" I say to them all, they all quiet down in shock of my actions.

Wade smirks, "You don't know what you're saving kid. Kill her while you've got the chance an' save yourself."

I scowl and push my claws closer to his throat, "what are you talking about?"

"Oh I'm sorry," Wade says, rolling his eyes, "has that not been explained in the story yet? Does Deadpool not make sense to your readers? Well, some of them probably can guess what I'm talking about."

I look behind me; Taylor is still on the ground, eyes still orange, looking at me completely emotionless. I glare at Wade again, "explain yourself, or consider yourself dead!"

"That thing," he begins, pointing at Taylor, "isn't human, or mutant, or even animal. That thing is alien."

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Alex and Micky run towards us, carrying weapons for us to escape with. I release Wade and walk towards Taylor. I help her stand up as she is handed 4 pistols and a big stick with buttons on it.

Micky hands me 2 pistols and a pair of twin katanas. Wade begins shouting about an author promising him those katanas. I look at our team, we all nod at each other. We are ready.

"Wait!" Wade calls to us, we all turn around.

"What is it Wilson?" Alex asks, clearly annoyed.

"I just wanted to say my final good-byes of..." He trails off, taking a deep breath.

"What is it?" Micky asks, Taylor's eyes widen and yell at us to run.

"PRISONER ZERO HAS ESCAPED! PRISONER ZERO HAS ESCAPED!" Wade yells at the top of his lungs as we begin running towards the door. Immediately, alarms go off. So much for escaping quietly.

"Quick! Through that door!" Alex shouts over the alarms, the three of us running behind him.

"But it's combo-locked! Micky's magic won't work on it!" Taylor shouts back.

"We have to try!" I say, "I can try to hold them off!"

The four of us run to the door, Taylor begins to try combinations on the lock as a screen comes on. There are Francis, Stryker and other men I have never seen before wearing the Hydra logo on their sleeves. This will end lovely.

 ****If anyone understands this reference, we need to be friends****

"Identify yourselves!" I yell at the screen, trying to get a reaction out of them.

"You will identify first," Francis replies over the screen. There is no emotion to his voice at all. It reminds me of a robot even more than normal. This is creepy.

"State your identity!" I yell back, trying to sound robotic to parody the leader.

"You will identify first."

I'm getting tired of this, "IDENTIFY!"

"It's like Stephen Hawking meets the speaking clock," I hear Alex say to himself.

"That is inconsistent and illogical," Francis continues, "you will modify."

"Daleks do not take orders!" I shout in return. That's got a good ring to it, Dalek. Our team escape name.

"You have identified as Dalek," Francis replies, he looks emotionless

I glance at the steel bar welded to my arm, "Outline resembles inferior species known as Hydra men."

"Our technologies are compatible, though your design is less elegant."

I look at our torn, battered outfits, "Daleks have no concept of elegance."

The man behind Stryker speaks up and shakes his head, "This is obvious."

Before I can reply to anyone, the door behind us opens and reveals seven Hydra soldiers and three prisoners. All ten of them form a circle around us, aiming their weapons or even powered hands at us. Micky steps forward, and raises her hands to should height. I look hard at her to see her eyes turning a solid shade of purple. I know what she is about to do, and I warn Taylor and Alex.

We slowly raise our hands to our ears just as a soldier speaks, "'Daleks' and all of Hydra's men; together we can upgrade the universe."

"You propose an alliance?" Micky answers, you can hear the static behind her voice.

The prisoner in front of her smiles and lowers his hands, they all do. "That is correct."

"Request denied," Micky states flatly, the electricity increasing around her.

"Hostile elements will be deleted!" The man in front of me states as he raises his gun and shoots at Micky's back. I stand up and receive the bullet straight to my shoulder. I screech out from the pain as Micky turns around, creating static electricity from the entire room. Even the ceiling lights have lightning cracking between them. I begin to heal immediately, and I watch as Micky begins to glow.

Micky stands up, and activates her power of electrokinesis, "exterminate." She hisses as bolts of lightning attack all ten men. They scream out, and fall to the ground dead. The three of us stare at Micky, amazed by her new powers. She grins at us in a friendly matter, pleased with herself.

"Daleks be warned, you have declared war on the Hydra men," Thorton warns as we turn to face the screen once again, voice just as monotone as Francis'. I forgot they were still on the screen, watching us.

I ball my fists as best I can with my left hand. How can they say we declared war by escaping? Besides, those men Micky killed attacked us first. It was self-defence. This makes no sense. "This is not war- this is pest control!" I speak for all of us.

"We have five million Hydra men, how many are you?" Francis speaks again.

"Four."

"You would destroy us Hydra men with four 'Daleks?'" I hear laughing in the background.

"We would destroy Hydra with one Dalek. You are superior in only one respect." My hands reach for my guns.

"What is that?"

"You are better at dying! Taylor, open the barrier!" I exclaim just as Taylor punches the keyboard on the door.

The screen fades just as the door opens and we are face to face with hundreds of Hydra and Weapon X prisoners. They raise their guns and take aim at us with their specialized guns and powers. We do the same, except with small hand guns, or whatever we choose to use.

"Delete! Delete!" The agents start yelling as they shoot at us.

We look at each other and agree on our plan of attack.

"EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" The four of us scream as we start shooting down agents and using our new powers to beat them.


	20. Escape Part 2

"You can say one thing," Taylor says as we around the abandoned prison. Francis and the others called a retreat once we 'exterminated' 12% of their men.

"What? Silence will fall?" Alex says, looking at Taylor from the corner of his eye.

"No, silence _has_ fallen." Taylor replies, looking over at Alex who avoids her gaze.

"Bad joke, Oswin." Alex replies looking around and opening a door.

"Bad Wolf, bad joke. What're you doing?"

Alex turns to me and Micky, completely avoiding Taylor's question and gaze, "there's more weapons in here, along with a train schedule. We can get on a train and get outta here before dawn tomorrow. I want to take some of these to Torchwood, anything alien they'll be interested in."

Micky looks at me, and back at Alex. "Torchwood?"

"Alien thing." Taylor answers, folding her arms. I look at her. Her eyes are glowing orange once again and glaring at Alex, obviously pissed at him. Wade Wilson's comment of her being an alien plays in my head again. Something is not right about our little escape group.

"Keegan, take whatever catches your eye." I nod and fill my bag with more ammo, as well as grabbing a sheath of arrows and a basic bow. We hear shouting and running from outside the door.

"They're here," I say, dragging the words in a high pitched voice to add effect.

"See you in hell." Alex says as he shoots the door off its hinges with a spear with a glowing blue stone in the centre of it.

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" The four of us repeat over the sound of gunshots. I begin shooting with my bow. I need to save bullets.

"I got this!" Micky yells to us as she raises her stick. "Alex, take them to safety!"

Alex nods and grabs my arm, pulling me with him, "Get out of the way! Don't let her magic hit you."

I unsheathe my claws as the three of us run towards the door. I hear screams behind me and flashes of green light. I slice the door open with my claws, easily cutting through the hard steel.

I turn around, I see Micky holding her stick out, green light flashing from it, I can hear her saying things just before the light emits. "Avada Kedavra!" She says one final time, and the soldier gets thrown across the room.

"We ready?" Taylor asks as Micky runs up to us, placing her sleeves back over her arms.

"Hold on," Micky says as she raises her stick and points it at the sky. As she does that, the dark clouds form a skull with a snake exiting the open mouth. "I didn't intend on doing that ever again...I don't want that life anymore, but since I used the killing curse I guess I had to."

With a quick movement, I shoot the guards approaching us with an arrow each. "Let's go." I say as I begin walking away from the prison. The sun blinds my vision as I walk. It's been 21 years since I've seen the outdoors. It's extremely hot, probably around 30 degrees ( **Celsius guys, Canada.)** and the sky is bright blue. It's probably the middle of the day.

My bare feet walk across the gravel and meet grass eventually. I look down at my pale legs, and soon realise that my entire body is sickly pale. My hands are rough from the experiments and weapons and my hair is long and stringy. Similar to my friends, I am covered in the blood of my enemies. Cuts and other wounds show through my ripped clothing, but are quickly gone due to my healing factor.

We stick out like a fruit loop in a box of cheerios, wonderful.

"So Alex, where are we going?" I finally ask as we walk in silence.

"I'm glad you asked Keegan." Alex smirks at me, "there's a supply train leaving for Tulsa Oklahoma at 4:15 this afternoon. We can make it if we hurry."

"How is a CPR train going to Oklahoma?" I ask, remembering Prime Minister McDonald's railway intension.

"No clue, it just says here." Alex says, letting me read the schedule. I glace it over and nod.

"We're going to Oklahoma guys," I announce as Micky and Taylor watch me, both confused. "From the looks of it, we've got a ways to go...allons-y!"

"What?" Taylor asks me.

"It's French for 'let's go.'" Micky replies. I feel like asking Micky about her magic, but decide against it. If she wanted me to know, she would tell me.

 **Time Skip**

It is nearly nightfall by the time we get to the station. Alex leads us between buildings as we look for an open box car we can stow away in.

"There!" Taylor quietly points to a red one filled with wooden boxes. We all nod, and one at a time jump into the car.

Just as I jump in, I notice a man carrying a light, looking for any stow aways. "Everyone to the sides, people are checking the cars." I whisper as the four of us go to both sides of the box car. Alex and I go to the same wall, rust covers the wall and boxes are piled up to the roof. We all remain still as the man checks our car. He eventually leaves, but we don't move. Just as I'm about to move, he returns and closes the sliding door of the car. I feel a jolt as the train starts moving forward, and we all exhale heavily and move back together.

We did it.

"Time for me to be honest," Micky says, breaking the silence. "I've been hiding something for the past...21 years I guess. An' I was thick as a plank for doin' that."

"Micky," Taylor begins, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Micky shies away from her touch, "I ain't the person you think I am. I have killed at least a hundred, and am wanted by the Ministry of Magic in Britain. That's why I'm in the New World, to hide from them. I am a witch, I completed all seven years at Hogwarts School, one of the top witches in my class. However, my downfall was that I was a Slytherin. My parents were Death Eaters and supported the Dark Lord until I..." Micky trails off, staring into space.

"Micky, what's wrong?" I ask her, walking slowly towards her, "you don't have to talk 'bout it if it hurts."

"No," Micky says, voice quivering, "it helps me, but you guys will probably want me killed. I..." She takes a breath, "I killed my parents. That's how I started following the Dark Lord, and that's how I got this," she raises her sleeve to show a black tattoo of a skull with a snake coming out of the jaw. "That's why I've been hiding my arm, that's why I can kill those bastards easily. I'm a dark wizard, but I want to change. If I was seen in Britain, I would get my soul sucked out of me."

Alex walks towards her, and embraces her. "We all have our dark pasts, whether it's being a dark wizard, or a murderous alien, or going rogue and killing thousands. We are a team, which means that we stand together. If we can't do that...we're not a true team. If we want to change, then change! I did, we all can...it'll just take a shit load of work. You can all become heroes. 'Cause if you're with us, you know a hero never dies!"

Throughout this trip, I have noticed that neither Micky nor Alex have had eye contact with Taylor, even during his little speech, Alex just looked between Micky and me. What is going on?

Shortly after that, the group separates to pass the time on the train. Taylor sits on a box and proceeds to carve cracks in them, similar to the one in Weapon X. Micky is probably behind the boxes, getting some form of sleep. I notice that Alex is standing by the door of the box car, playing with his stick.

I look at Alex, quickly I stand up and grab the stick that he was playing with a moment ago.

"Hey! That's mine!" Alex says as he stands up. He is much taller than me at 6', but I manage to keep the stick.

"First," I begin, holding it behind my back, "What is it and what does it do? Second, you said you're not from here, who are you really, and where are you from? Tell me the truth, or I'll break it."

Alex stops and thinks about it for a moment before he opens the door and sits down at the edge of the train car. He motions for me to sit with him. I sit down beside him, and watch the early dawn begin over the landscape.

"You're right about me you know." Alex says eventually. Not taking his eyes off the horizon.

"Right about what?" I say, looking at him confused.

"Me. You're right that I'm not from here. I think that you're one of the only people in this world who could kind of understand what I'm going to tell you."

I look at him, holding his gaze, "huh?"

"First off, this is a sonic, er, never mind."

"What?" I ask, Alex is acting strange; he is fiddling with his hands and not meeting my gaze anymore.

"It's sonic, totally sonic. I am sonicked _up!_ " Alex says quickly. He stands up and turn away from me.

"A sonic _WHAT?!"_ I exclaim, grabbing his shoulder and turning him to face me.

" _Screwdriver!"_ Alex replies sharply, grabbing the screwdriver from my hand as he turns around. He sits back down after a moment, placing his face in his hands for a second.

"A sonic screwdriver?" I ask, sitting next to him once again.

"Not my idea. It was given to me by my friend to protect myself."

"That two-Hearted friend?"

Alex sighs, "yes. Before we got split up, the Doctor gave me this and my brother had a sonic blaster. That thing worked amazingly well. Middle of Britain during the war...man those gas mask zombies were scary, let me tell you."

I look at him, "who are you, really?"

Alex looks at me, and gives a sideways smirk, "Alex Joshua Harkness. Smarter than Jack Harkness, my brother. He got the looks of the family though. We were the best Time agents the 51st century had ever seen. Well...Maybe not the best, but don't let me tell you that. I will admit though, that last time we were sentenced to death Jack made the mistake of ordering both of us four hyper-vodkas each for breakfast. A bit of a blur after that...woke up next to my executioners. They even stayed in touch! Now that's not something you can say about most executioners."

"Hang on," I say, "you're not making sense...51st century? That hasn't happened yet. What are you on?"

"Nothing m'lady," Alex says, "nothing except the feeling of traveling through space and time with the Doctor and the beautiful Rose Tyler. Although nothing compares to the beauty I've seen now. I can tell you're confused, I'm a time traveller, who just so happened to get separated from his Time Travelling party."

"Then how do we get you back to them?" I ask, saying my words carefully.

"You can't." Alex replies sadly, "I get to live the one adventure the Doctor could never live: everyday life. I got stranded when we left in the war and now they've moved onto another world."

"World?"

"There are parallel worlds, Keegan. Every single decision you make creates a parallel existence, a different dimension where the opposite happens. It's some sort of mirrored world, like in that _Star Trek_ episode where Spock had a beard."

I look at him confused, "Alex, I get what you're saying, but what's _Star Trek?"_

"Right, you don't know that yet..." Alex replies, "but at least you sort of understand. Right?"

"Yes. But...how did you get here?'"

Alex turns away, I can see tears forming in his eyes, "we...were in the TARDIS. Jack and I were being brothers and fooling around. I was standing a little too close to the door, and I didn't realise the Doctor hadn't locked it." He stops before he can finish, wiping away tears. "I fell out of the TARDIS and Time Vortex altogether. Falling out of the vortex can leave you anywhere. For me, it was 1943 Alberta Canada. I'll only see them again if the TARDIS falls through the Vortex."

I'm so sorry Alex." Is all I say to him. I mean hell, he lost his family, friend, and what seems like girlfriend.

"Thank you, if it's the last thing I do, it's find a way to them again." Alex replies. "Can I ask you something?"

"Ya, sure."

"What's your real name? I only know you as Keegan."

I look at him, putting a strand of my stringy hair behind my ear, "Raven. Raven Bailey Howlett. I need to use Keegan out here from now on."

Alex all of a sudden jumps up and grabs my hand. He drags me to a dark part of the box car.

"Alex, what are you-" I begin as he covers my mouth.

"Warning you." He whispers, "you are my favourite character, and I want to change how it ends."

I remove his hand from my mouth, "what are you talking about?" I whisper in reply.

"listen," Alex begins, "in 2017 you-"

"Guys, the train stopped." Micky says, stopping Alex mid sentence, "time t' get off."

Alex looks at me, holding my hands. "Tell you later, if I can. Word of advice: don't trust a Death Eater, and don't look directly at Prisoner Zero."


	21. Unwanted News

**WANTED TEENS ESCAPE ALBERTA HOSPITAL**

 **Group murders numerous and escapes because of dangerous mutant.**

A group of dangerous teenagers attacked and fled from a biohazardous "Weaponilia X" hospital in Claresholm Alberta on July 18th 1966. Doctors state the groups consisted of three girls and one boy, all of which were patients. The incident resulted in multiple injured and at least 60 dead.

"Ajax and I were attending to a patient when we heard that four prison- I mean patients had left their beds," Doctor Malcolm Colcord stated, "when we called security they were armed." Security footage shows that the group consisted of Taylor Oswin, MicKayla O'Leary, Alexander Harkness, and Raven Howlett, and shows that Howlett used long knives against doctors, nurses and other patients to escape.

"Three of them are very cooperative; I bet that Raven was the one to spark rebellion into their eyes." Doctor Francis Ajax sighs as he tends to injured patients, "Oswin, Harkness and O'Leary are all very kind, and would never do anything violent. I know it was Howlett, ever since the experi- surgery... that monster of a mutant has acted hostile."

Officials say that this act could be linked into the Cuban Missile crisis from 1962, where more mutants caused the destruction of an aircraft, a death and the paralysis of Charles Xavier. Officials also agree that the main cause of this to occur was indeed Raven Howlett, a mutant. Local police and RCMP agree that it is time to call on Earth's Mightiest Heroes for help.

"If the Avengers can find them, we would be very thankful. Especially with the destruction- I mean... location of Raven Howlett. She must be deleted- I mean brought to justice." Doctor Abraham Cornelius stutters after viewing security footage of Howlett murdering a large group of security with the help of O'Leary. Footage shows that Howlett hold the ability to heal herself of any injury, and possesses knife-like claws in her hands.

"O'Leary does possess magical abilities, but not the same genetic level as being a mutant," Cornelius states to officers, "the only real mutant at the hospital was Raven, and a dangerous one. She will return looking for our lives if she is not stopped!"

Witnesses and civilians around the area are warned to stay sheltered and go outside in groups. Do not attempt to fight Howlett as she will murder on the spot. Descriptions of Howlett include being around 5 feet tall, and athletically built with long dark blonde hair and neon green eyes. Description and photos of the other missing teens can be found on page 14.

If you have seen this mutant, please contact 617-8705 to inform police and officials. If you have seen Harkness, O'Leary, or Oswin, contact the same number to return them to the hospital.

-Leah M of the Weekly Boarder-


	22. Goodbye Daleks

"Houston, we have a problem." I hear Alex say to himself as he reads a newspaper. His eyes are wide as he leans against a rack in the general store, and his grip on the paper tightens as he continues to read. His outburst causes the three of us to stop looking at the clothes on the racks.

"What is it?" I ask, placing a shirt back on the rack before approaching him. I place my hand on his shoulder as his eyes meet mine. Alex closes the paper.

"Follow me, all of you. I gotta show you something."

I follow Alex, Taylor and Micky right behind me. I look at them, as we share a look of confusion. Alex leads us to a closet at the back of the store, and locks the door behind us. He turns around with a look of horror on his face, "we're wanted."

"Of course we are," Taylor replies, folding her arms, "just explain Harkness."

Alex open the newspaper to a headline, 'WANTED TEENS ESCAPE ALBERTA HOSPITAL' written in bold black ink across the top of the page. Underneath is a picture of me, with the words 'dangerous mutant' below it. Is that what they're calling me now? Dangerous? After I've done how much in history?

"When did this come out?" Micky asks, grabbing the paper and skimming the words, confusion spreading across her face as she reads.

"Two days ago," Alex replies, "and Ajax and them all managed to lie between their teeth 'bout it all. Keegan's wanted...we all are. They'll be looking for all of us wherever we go now. All of space and time is against us. Sorry Jack." Alex mutters the last part, as if trying to keep it so none of us would hear it.

"So what do we do?" I ask, trying to glance over Micky's shoulder to read bits of the article. "I mean, now that our pictures are published, it may be a little hard to hide."

"Plus we got no money, so we can't buy tickets to anywhere else." Micky adds in, dropping the paper.

"Girls," Alex starts, picking up the paper, "we don't need to leave to anywhere. One thing we have to do is hide as best as we can. Which means ditching these old rags, getting shoes for Keegan, and cutting all you girl's hair."

"That might work." I agree, "it did back in 1810 when I ran away, so why not this time? Especially if we keep low."

"Yes, but was no one listenin'?" Micky asks, "Clothes and shoes require buying. Buying equals money, which we don't have."

Taylor grins, "I can handle that, you three wander the back of the store as if you're looking at stuff 'till I get back." Her eyes flash orange, and she is out of the room before any of us can protest.

We exit the room and begin looking at stuff. Micky goes to the clothes while Alex goes to look at switchblades. I look at my bare feet, red from the walking and even running we have had to do over the past few weeks. I wander to the shoe section; as usual everything is too big for my foot. I notice there are children's shoes as well; I fit my foot into a size 5. Perfect, and they're cheap.

A hand grabs my shoulder, pulling me out of my daze. Immediately I throw a punch out to whoever grabbed me.

"At ease Keegan!" Taylor says as she falls down from avoiding my punch. I soften my gaze and stance, helping her off the floor.

"Sorry," I apologise, "habit from everything."

"I get it," Taylor says, "at least you didn't pull out the claws. Here." She hands me a blue wallet with a man dressed as a bat on the front. Obviously it's a kid's wallet.

"It's the best I could do, thought you'd like Batman since you're the hero of the group," Taylor replies before I can say anything. I open it; there is probably enough money for a new shirt, pants, jacket and shoes.

"Thanks Taylor, I- wait, what is on your hands?" I ask as I notice her hands are a different shade then the rest of her tan arms.

Taylor widens her eyes, and avoids my gaze, "n-nothing...uhh what are you-"

I grab her hands and hold them up. From the middle of her lower arm down, her arms are heavily painted scarlet red. "What the hell Taylor?!"

"Got in a fight."

"And what? Ripped their guts out?" I ask sarcastically.

"Well actually I-"

"Don't answer that."

"Okay."

"I'm gonna ask why though."

"They looked at me. They're fine, shut up and take the wallet."

I hesitate, before taking the Batman wallet. She nods, and sets off to find the others. I look down; did I make the right choice?

I look at a shirt, a plain blue one. I pick it up, along with a pair of jeans. I'm about to try the short on, when something shiny catches my eye. I look around, trying to find whatever it was. Eventually I find it, hidden behind some boxes.

It's another one of those totems, the carvings form a bird, and the back has a white butterfly on it. I pick it up, 21 years since I've seen one. Surely white could mean something good. I turn it over.

 _Sirens can be heard in the distance while a sunset glows over the horizon, a boy comes up beside me.  
"They won't catch you, you're safe."  
-_

I place the totem down once again, what could that one mean? No one dies, so I guess that's good, but who was that in the vision? I quickly abandon the thought, grabbing a jacket and a pair of children's shoes.

I pay for the clothes, luckily not getting recognized, and stand outside by an alley while waiting for the others. Micky is already done as well, so we take turns changing into our new clothes. The denim jeans a jacket feel strange to me, so do the shoes. I look at Micky, who has on a pair of black pants with a purple short and a denim jacket as well. She takes out a switchblade, and proceeds to rip her old clothes into strips.

"Let's tie our hair back," she begins while handing me a strip of cloth, "Alex'll cut it first an' we can keep it out of the way."

Just as she finishes, Alex and Taylor walk out of the store. Alex is wearing a leather jacket, jeans and a muscle shirt, while Taylor is dressed similar to Micky, except she is wearing a red shirt.

"That was easy," Taylor eventually states, "no one recognised us."

"We got lucky." Alex replies, bringing out a switchblade and a large bottle of peroxide. "Who's first?"

"What's the peroxide for?" I ask, confused.

"Turns your hair a lighter blonde Keegan," Alex answers, "keep your cover, your eyes already scream 'I'm suspicious.'"

"No! You're not touchin' my hair with that!" I state, covering my hair with my small hands. "Just cut it, I don't wanna be a blonde. Besides, I'll just hang low, keep my cover. I've done it before, or I'll try and shape shift again into m World War Two form."

"You're too memorable, you got change it." Micky says, "how 'bout if you just bleach the ends?"

"We can do that, I'll cut it first." Alex offers, already measuring how much hair needs to come off. My hair goes down my torso, reaching below my lower back.

I sigh, "fine, just don't take off too much, just maybe centre back or below my shoulders."

Alex smirks, "got it." He opens his knife and begins to saw through my hair.

 **Time skip**

I will admit, my head feels lighter.

Alex cut my hair to the base of my shoulder blades, and bleached a quarter of it from the ends. He did the same for Taylor and Micky, except bleaching Taylor's full head. After the peroxide dried, Micky cut Alex's hair very short.

"We ready yet?" Taylor eventually asks, standing up and looking outside the alley where we are hidden.

"Yea, but Alex and I were talking 'bout something." Micky replies, suddenly looking very upset about something. `

"What's wrong?" I ask, sitting beside her. Did something happen in the shop?

"I saw something in the store," Alex begins, voice quivering, "like a piece off a totem pole. Listen, this is going to sound crazy but...we have to split up. All of us."

Taylor suddenly stands up, "what? No! After everything we've been through. We're the _Daleks_ , we have to stick together!"

"With what I saw in that totem, we can't. Someone's gonna die if we do...I can't let that happen," Alex says, putting his hands up in defence, "besides, if we split up they won't find us as easily. They'll be expecting us to stick together because we are the 'Daleks', and Daleks are always in a group. I wish we didn't have to, but just this once can't everybody live?"

"Zero- I mean Taylor, listen to Alex," Micky states, voice cracking and tears forming in her eyes, "if we have to split up in order to stay alive, we gotta do it!"

"I hate to say this but it's true." I speak up; Taylor looks at me, betrayal in her eyes. "I don't want any of us to be sent back. Let's split up, in pairs? That way none of us will be alone if they find one of us. Back-to-back combat is stronger." No one speaks against me; we all know what has to be done. None of us want to admit it though, we have grown so close, come so far, been together through so much.

"So this is good-bye then?" Taylor asks, looking around. There is a hesitation in everyone.

"Yes," Alex eventually answers, grabbing Micky's hand softly, "this is. I'll go with Micky. No dark wizard will hurt you as long as I'm here." He lets go of Micky's hand quickly, walking over to Taylor.

"Can I look at you?" He asks her, "or will you kill me?"

"I would never kill any of you. Just because I can, doesn't mean I always do."

Alex looks Taylor in the eye, then pulling her into a hug. "Promise me something?" He says as they pull away from each other.

"Hm?" She replies, raising an eyebrow.

"Stay away from Amelia Pond, or else he will come." Alex states, eyes growing hard.

"Who?"

"Exactly." He leaves Taylor staring at him, confusion radiating off her face. Alex approaches me, reaching into his leather jacket.

"Here Raven," He hands me his sonic screwdriver, along with a weird piece of metal. The metal has lights on it, as well as weird layers making it look like a piece from a robot. "You will need these more than I ever will. Be careful with that Cybermite." Alex grins, "part of me wishes I never met you, I was better off a coward. The other part wishes I met you earlier." He pulls me into a hug. I feel him kiss the top of my head.

"Alex," I say, he looks down at me, his eyes meet mine, "I hope you find your brother...and everyone else. Even if they have to fall through the...vortex?"

Alex smiles, "you got it Raven. Believe me though, someday and somehow we will meet again." He winks and walks towards Micky. He grabs her hand, and they begin to jog away. Taylor and I watch them, until we can no longer see them. Tears form in my eyes, I wipe them away.

"What now?" Taylor asks me.

I'm about to answer when a voice cuts me off.

"Hey greasers!"


	23. History Nerd

**Hey Guys, here's a new chapter! Sorry it took so long, holidays have been busy on my side. This chapter has two swear words, so I though I should say something, even though one is a reference (as usual)**  
 **Anyways, happy reading**

We are running again, and it's not my fault...or is it? I honestly can't remember. Nope, this one was Taylor, and now we are running from two police officers and a bunch of West Siders, or Socs as I've been told.

Taylor grabs my flannel shirt, "alleyway. We're almost back." The two of us turn sharply into an alley and duck behind some old garbage bins. Good thing Taylor and I are small, or else there would be nowhere to hide. I hold my nose, the garbage has been out for a while, but soon the Socs come into the alleyway. Taylor and I look at each other briefly, before watching them.  
"You swear you saw 'em come down here?" The leader of the Soc gang asks another. He has short blond hair, and is wearing a varsity jacket.  
"Swear I did, they're fast though, an' small." Another says, I can't see him through the others, he must be smaller.  
I see Taylor pick up a stone and hands it to me. She subtly points to another row of metal cans higher up the alley to my right. "Throw it," she mouths to me "distraction."  
"Why do I have to do it?" I mouth back, frustrated with her for getting us into this situation.  
"You got the better aim, just do it when they ain't lookin."  
I exhale through my nose; I look at the cans again. It's an easy throw, maybe around 10 feet away from where I'm crouched. The hardest part is not being seen. I don't feel like getting jumped again, my back is still sore from last time. I watch the Socs, hopefully they will turn away for two seconds. I get my wish, for they all form a tight circle around each other when the leader picks up the smaller one.  
I stand up a little bit, and throw the rock, putting all my force behind it.  
It hits the garbage can with a loud *bang*. I quickly duck down again.  
The Socs run to the top of the alley, and quickly jump over the fence to try to chase the sound. I stand up, and drag Taylor out of the alley.  
"We are so lucky I hit that." I say to Taylor as we begin jogging. Taylor laughs and pushes me slightly.  
"Knew you would. I just figured out an easier way we could've gotten outta that," she replies to me.  
"Hm?"  
"We could've shape-shifted y'know."  
"No we couldn't have," I reply, thinking about my powers.  
"Sure we could've. You know I can and-" Taylor begins her rebuttal.  
"Congratulations, you can shape-shift. I haven't done that since the 40's. Don't think I can do that anymore, plus I don't want to rely on that."  
"You sound old Keegan," Taylor laughs at me.  
I sigh and push her, "Jerk."  
"Bitch," she replies as she tries to jump onto my shoulders, making me almost lose my balance.  
We slow down to a walk as we approach a house. The exterior is a simple white, with a chain fence around the yard. Surrounding the house are some big, old trees.  
"No one was up when we left, think they're up yet?" I ask as we approach the fence.  
"Probably. Darry's got work, and you said you could help Pony with history. Because what a shocker to the world Keegan Howlett, famous war hero, seen 'em all...knows history." I laugh at the memory. After Alex and Micky split from us three weeks ago, we were jumped by some younger Soc boys. Taylor and I easily fought them off, but not without some help. A few boys who look around our physical age helped us out, and offered their home to us for a bit. We quickly learned their names were Ponyboy and Sodapop Curtis. Recently, Pony was doing history homework about the First World War, and asked me for help when I said that I was a "history nerd."  
Taylor jumps the fence, "I see Two-Bit inside, they're up."  
"They have a gate y'know." I say as I walk through the gate. Taylor ignores me, and we walk into the house together.  
"We're back!" Taylor calls as we walk into the house.  
"You were gone for a while," Soda says as we enter the living room. Him and Two-Bit were on the couch, Soda held a newspaper in his hands. They never said anything, but I think they figured out who we were, or Taylor at least.  
"Got in a situation with the Fuzz and a few Soc," Taylor answers.  
"It was her fault!" I chime in, I need to state that it was not me this time.  
"Watcha do?" Two-Bit asks.  
Taylor reaches into the pockets of her flannel, and pull out a wallet, some keys, a ring and a blue switchblade. "This." I sigh and rub my forehead.  
"You stole all that?" Soda asks, Two-Bit is nodding in approval.  
"Why not? Did that first off of a Soc. Keegan distracted 'em and I swiped, then took the switchblade from a store." Taylor answers, looking proud.  
"Except we almost got caught and jumped again," I say.  
"But we didn't."  
"You guys are amateurs at that." Two-Bit laughs and Taylor gives him an unamused look.  
"Keegan, Pony's upstairs in his room still working on history. Can you still help him?" Soda asks, standing up and walking over to the kitchen to grab some cake.  
"Get it Keegan!" Taylor whispers to me, causing me to go bright red, I scowl and flick her.  
"Y-ya, which war is it again?" I ask, finally able to use my military knowledge for something. I took a glance at Pony's books on 1812, and resisted the urge to burn it. Wolfe died from his wounds because he was a wimp, and no one knows how long Plains of Abraham lasted because we weren't worried about time back then!  
"The first one."  
"Thanks."  
 **Time skip (I am not a history person, so if anything is wrong, forgive me, and please let me know. Don't say you learn history from this story guys, go to school. Big thanks to my friends and family for the WWI notes)**  
"I can't thank you enough Keegan, this is really helpin' me out." Pony says again, putting a hand through his half brown half bleached hair.  
"It ain't a problem Pony, I'm happy I can help. Not every day I use something from school."  
Pony laughs nervously, then continues "Germany wanted to be superior even before the war, how did the unification even lead to the war?" Pony asks me. It is early evening now, and Ponyboy has a test on WWI coming up.  
"Germany desired to become a superpower and a military power long before World War I. The unification of Germany was fuelled by the desire to become superior to France, Britain and Russia, and to be considered a world leader and a military power. Imperialistic competition was present between France, Britain and Germany affected the military, colonies, and politics. This led to conflict with Britain, Russia and especially France due to the desire to claim land and spread their nation.  
In order to achieve this, German nations created the Trade union Zollverein, allowing members to trade among each other freely. This caused the rise of industrial Germany due to economic benefits and energy the Trade union gave the economy. 18 of the German states joined this Trade union by 1867. Austria-Hungary and General Otto von Bismarck refused to join because of the rivalry present between Austria-Hungary and Prussia. However, this trade union allowed Prussia to prepare the German states for confederacy. This caused German nationalism to rise within the states, which were based on Prussian authoritarianism and Prussia's reactionary, Anti-Catholic and Anti-Liberal political views. A huge cause of the Great War was the Imperialistic competition between the French, British, and Germans."  
"How do you know all of this? I mean, you're so certain." Pony asks as he writes the key points from what I said down. I stop for a second.  
"Oh you know I fought- I mean my uhh...grandfather fought? Yes! My grandfather fought in WWI and uhh...wrote letters home...he died in uh...1914."  
"Are you ok Keegan?" Pony asks, looking up at me with concern on his face.  
"Fine." I answer, looking at him. When we first met after being jumped, I was immediately more comfortable around Pony than any other Greaser. I don't know why that is, but we have grown to be good friends. It wasn't long before he told me what happened to a few of his friends a while ago. I feel bad for him.  
"Alright, umm can you tell me anything about WWII before I start it in class?" He asks, I grin. Pony, as usual goes to me for a head start in history. I'm surprised he hasn't been kicked out of the class after my 1812 rant.  
"It was all based on ultra nationalism. There's the basics. Propaganda so things like Captain America and that stuff."  
"Richard Hamburg too?"  
I cough a bit, "w-w-who?"  
"The teacher said something about a Richard Hamburg when we do WWII."  
I look down, and try to hide my flushing cheeks, "what about him?"  
"His disappearance."  
"You had better go to the teacher first on that one. I don't know a whole lot about him. I remember my father spoke about him once."  
Pony looks at me confused, I can't blame him.  
"Anyways, so you have any more questions about the Great War?"  
"Hmm, no. I'm good, thanks Keegan."  
"No problem."  
"Can I ask you something Keegan?"  
"Sure thing Pony."  
"Did you drop out of school?"  
Shit. "Uhh no, I was uhh..."  
"Are you alright?" Pony asks me again, sitting down beside me on his bed, "you're really pale."  
"I-I'm fine, thanks though. I was uhh...pushed ahead a few grades. Graduated really early."  
"Really?"  
"Ya." I answer, hoping that can actually happen.  
Before Pony can say anything else, Soda calls the both of us downstairs. Pony thanks me again before he heads downstairs. I let him go first, saying I need to do something quickly.  
After he goes down, I place my head in my hands.  
I might've just given myself away.


	24. A Pile of Ashes

I close the fourth encyclopaedia and place it back on the shelf, quickly gather my notes, and get the hell out of the dark building.

Thirteen hours at the library. I have spent my day cramped in a shady, old, dusty library trying to find answers.

Ever since Pony brought up my old name from the war, I haven't been able to think about anything else. That was two weeks ago, and it's been driving me insane. So today while everyone was either working, at school, or anything else, I found myself in the library trying to find what history says about 'Richard.'

I begin walking back to the Curtis' house and begin thinking of everything I just read. I need to talk to Taylor about this.

"Hey nerd! I see you've come outta your nest!" I turn around to see Taylor jogging towards me, her eyes are bright with excitement and she's carrying a bag over her shoulder.

I stop and wait for her to catch up before I start walking again, "why're you so excited? What did you do now?"

"Tell ya later, but I got a bag of salt and a .45 with some silver bullets 'cause of it!"

"Great," I say sarcastically, "let's get back. I gotta tell you something 'bout what I found."

Taylor stops me, "Raven, is this 'bout Richard Hamburg _again?_ "

"Yes."

"Let go of the past Raven. What's done is done. You can't change it now, you can't save them, you know that. It's not your fault you weren't allowed to go. You've been focused on this ever since Pony brought it up to you. This obsession is unhealthy; you've been in the library since it opened. Focus on something else. Tell me at midnight, in the lot. Don't be late."

"Fine." I say as we begin to walk again. Even after all these years I can't help but feel guilty about Steve and Bucky. I should've gone and protected them. They'd be alive I had not stayed with Lex and Peggy. Plus there's what Stryker told me back in Weapon X.

 _"_ _How can a person have no evidence of being alive? No birth certificate, no historical evidence either_ _."_

My so-called "obsession" is because I want answers, and I will get answers if it's the last thing I do.

As we arrive at the house, I can see Steve and Soda inside, Ponyboy is hidden behind them as I reach for the handle.

"Remember tonight," Taylor whispers before entering.

 **Time skip** **because dammit exams are draining**

11:30 at night rolls around faster than I anticipated. I get out off the couch, and grab my flannel before I sneak out the door. I remembered Taylor telling me to get to the lot. I jog to the lot, where Taylor is sitting on the hood of a red Chevrolet Impala.

"Who's that belong to?" I say, gaining her attention as I walk up to her.

She shrugs, "dunno, damn nice car though." She stands up and folds her arms, "you start, whatcha find?"

I take my notes out of my back pocket, and look up at her, "to start off, I wanted answers okay?"

Taylor looks at me, "answers to...?"

"Questions," I begin again, "just some things that I remember from being a soldier and Weapon X. I told you about how I wanted to go fight in the 40's, but couldn't...so I 'borrowed' Lex's powers of physical manipulation so I could change my appearance."

Taylor raises her eyebrows, "Yes...you've lost me on the 'questions.'"

"Pony said that Richard Hamburg, my male shape, disappeared. Why was that? I didn't disappear, I attacked an Alaskan Hydra Base after Steve and Bucky died. I was so angry and upset that they died that I became a living weapon like my brother Logan. Anyways, Taylor I was doing research about Richard, and there were no records of him even entering the Canadian military. People talked about him, but nothing was found. Hell, I wasn't even on the list of people that went to help the Americans, there were only fourteen names. So...what the hell happened? According to the books, I went on the Dortmund raid and never returned, and was deemed MIA. They never found my body. But...not everything lines up."

"But what happened to your papers?" Taylor asks.

"That's what I asked myself, and I thought that it was probably attached to Lex since she helped me get into the Canadian military in the first place. So I researched Lex, and her works as a scientist. And yup, found something. Apparently she was considered to be a "genius" of her time. She helped with the creation of the Super Soldier Serum, and worked closely with Howard Stark. But, after I left because of my rage, Lex started having "supernatural" events occur around her. One event even resulted in a death when a snake wrapped itself around the throat of a soldier, so in the middle of the night she fled. All they found was a bunch of Hydra and Nazi paperwork on her desk, and a pile of ashes beside a lighter."

"So you think she might have burned your paperwork," Taylor begins, rubbing her face with her hands, "why?"

I shrug, "that's the thing, I don't know." I rub my hands up my arms, it's very windy tonight, and I didn't bring my jacket.

"You said she could shape-shift...right?"

"Yes, when she demonstrated it in front of me, I learned how to do it and was able to change into Richard Hamburg."

"Maybe she's just in a different form and no one knows what she looks like."

"Maybe. That's a good point."

Taylor suddenly grasps my arm, "shift!"

"Why?"

"Let's see if you can, maybe you can still do it if you learned it."

"I don't understand, but alright." I close my eyes, and think about the features I had when I was Richard. I try to picture myself growing taller, and my hair growing darker. Eventually I can no longer think, for my head begins to pound. I rub my forehead.

I open my eyes, I'm still the same height as Taylor, who's looking at me with wide eyes. "Didn't work?" I groan as I rub my head.

"N-nope. Must be a temporary thing with your powers, but the claws you have. Ugh we need a Sherlock Holmes to figure you out."

"Tell me about it."

"But what are you gonna do Keegan? Now that you have some answers?"

"I've been holding back this thought for a while," I say, avoiding her gaze.

"What?" Taylor asks me.

"I was thinking of...avenging their deaths?"

"You're going to join the Avengers? They're looking for you as a wanted, dangerous, criminal mutant!"

"No! I would never join the Avengers...or that crazy group of mutants called the... "X-men," just y'know maybe become something like them."

Taylor looks at me in total shock, "you're going to become a superhero?!"

I laugh harshly, "no. I may be super, but I'm no hero. Have you seen my morals? I have at least 200 kills under my belt, and I should probably try to get the red out from under me. Nah, no superhero, how about a vigilante?"

I can see Taylor roll her eyes, "you're crazy."

I smirk, "I have lived for 170 years, I have a right to be crazy."

"Then I'm joining you."

"You do good?" I start laughing, "I'm sorry but...aren't you the same prisoner who is wanted by the space-police?"

"The Atraxi won't find me here. I'm safe as long as the Doctor doesn't find me. I'm not letting you do reckless things without me."

"But what did you do to get the bag of salt and the weapons?" I ask her, curious of her excitement from earlier today.

"Oh right, I'll go into more detail next week. But met this guy who says he works for a thing called the 'Men of Letters.' He said he's heard of us 'n thought we might be good at that type of job."

"What type of job?"

"Workin' with the supernatural. Hunting the strange, y'know...that sorta stuff."

I look at her, "sounds like a job for psychopaths. Sounds fun." We laugh for a bit before Taylor cuts us off.

"Keegan, this whole thing is **Kauai King**." She says, emphasizing the last bit. I nod. Back when the Daleks separated, the two of us made a code of different words as a warning to each other. 'Kauai King,' the winner of the Kentucky Derby we use as a way to say that we are being watched.

Taylor jumps behind the Impala, where I can hear her struggling against someone. I run after her, ready to unleash my claws.

I see Taylor pinning someone down to the ground. I pull her off and pick the body up. The person's face hidden by shadows.

"Why are you here?!" I sneer at the person.

"I could ask the same thing," the person replies. I immediately drop the person and cover my mouth with my hands in shock.

"Ponyboy Curtis, what the hell are you doing following us?" Taylor asks him as he stands up. Her eyes glow orange due to the surprise.

"Couldn't sleep, plus I heard Taylor leave the house." We look at each other, "I'm sorry, but what're you two doing out here?"

"Discussing," I reply, "how much did you hear?"

"All of it."

"Now you know why I couldn't answer you."

"I had my suspicions a while ago. Then I saw a newspaper depicting Taylor as wanted, then I figured it out." I sigh.

"I won't tell anyone though, not even Soda. I'm trustworthy."

Taylor scowls, "you'd better be Pony." I look at her, sending the signal to tone down her attitude.

"Let's get back, before anyone notices us," I say as Taylor softens her gaze at Pony. I check my watch, it's nearly sunrise. We all nod before starting to walk back. However, as we start, we hear sirens close by. Taylor and I jump behind the Impala, dragging Pony with us.

"One at a time," Taylor says to me, "you take Pony with you when it's clear." She stands up and begins her run back to the house.

I wait for a few minutes, by now the sirens are fading into the distance, signalling safety. I exhale heavily as I stand up and walk towards the end of the lot.

I watch the sun begin to rise above the horizon; I can still hear the sirens in the distance. My paranoia gets the best of me sometimes.

I hear Pony come up beside me, "They won't catch you, you're safe."


	25. Pulled Triggers

"You need a break. We'll be fine." I hear Taylor state over Darry's complaining. As usual, Taylor had an idea. This included sending the "outsiders" for a weekend getaway while we watched over everything. Despite the complaining and resistance from everyone, Taylor was persistent and eventually convinced everyone to go. It was really quote impression.

"We appreciate the thought, but maybe we shouldn't go for-"

"At least go celebrate Washington 's Birthday away."

"But-"

"Nope, go!" I try not to laugh, for I know why Taylor wants them gone for a bit. She wants to talk to me. We told them everything. We had to ever since Pony found out. I suggested it, and while Taylor disagreed we decided it would be in the best interest of everyone if we were honest.

Soda speaks up, "what if those guys come lookin' for you two? Then what are you gonna do?"

"We'll figure something out," I answer, not looking up from my book, Great Expectations.

Pony lowers my book, "don't get yourselves hurt- or killed."

I look at him, "we never do. They won't find us if we lay low for three days. We've survived this long haven't we?"

Taylor helps the others move their stuff outside, but Pony stays beside me. I can tell he's worried, I turn to look at him, "Pony, we'll be fine. I promise you we're not going to die, I'm a mutant, and Taylor's E.T, it's not going to happen again. Ajax would have to look pretty damn hard to find us."

Pony looks over at me, and proceeds to hug me, "be safe."

I return the gesture, "you too."

We walk outside to say goodbye for the weekend. Everything is packed and the boys are ready to go. Darry is finishing up giving instructions to Taylor, while Soda, Pony and Two Bit are getting in the car.

"You two better be in one piece when we get home. If you two are injured, dead, or if Keegan's missing a heart or that piece of metal in her arm I will kill you guys."

"Cross our hearts until we regenerate we won't die, and we'll keep the place tidy. Go relax, have some fun." Taylor says while slightly pushing Darry towards the rest of the boys.

We watch them drive away, before we step back inside the house again. I sit back down and open my book up. Charles Dickens was an amazing writer I wish I could have met him.

"We gotta leave soon," Taylor eventually breaks the silence, sitting down beside me. I sigh, I knew this was coming.

"Unfortunately, you're right. When?" I ask, my eyes never leaving the page.

"Tonight."

"Too soon, they're expecting us to leave while they're gone. Didn't you see the brother's facial expressions?"

"No I don't pay attention to that."

I set my book down and raise an eyebrow at Taylor, "you should, it helps deductions. Anyways, I have to agree with we need to leave soon. But...when?"

"If you say we need to wait until they get back fine, but I don't know when we could leave after they return. I mean, Pony is attached to you, you've helped him out so much. Plus you are pretty much the same age physically and mentally." Taylor replies, walking into the kitchen to grab a piece of cake.

I look at her, "so what are you suggesting? We leave when they're expecting it, and probably put them in more danger than ever?"

"They're already in danger Keegan. We met them around September, and it's now February. We need to get out of here."

"Can we plan this, y'know...think it through? Let's not just recklessly run and hope we don't run into Ajax. We can't just drop this thought and leave in an hour. Took the Daleks three days of little preparation, and in the war it took TONS of planning. Taylor, you know how stressed these can make me."

"This ain't a war, and we ain't the Daleks. I'm sorry Keegan, I don't mean to make you anxious."

I nod, for the past six weeks; I haven't slept well at all. I constantly wake up in a cold sweat from nightmares, or I keep myself lying awake all night over thinking everything. I'm nervous to go to a doctor, because I don't want to be discovered.

"One more week?" I eventually say, "and we won't say anything to anyone. We'll make sure nothing's stuck to our shoes well before we leave too."

Taylor nods, "yea. This sucks ass."

I nod, already I know I'm going to miss Ponyboy. "Hey, Taylor?"

"What up Keegan?"

"What do you think ever happened to Micky and Alex?"

Taylor stops to think, "dunno. I just hope they're all right and still free."

I nod, "same."

 **TIME SKIP because SuperWhoLock**

The knock on the door shakes me awake. I sit upright in bed for a second, thinking it was just my mind as usual. The knock repeats itself, knocking four times. I stand up, and see Taylor come around the corner, looking very unamused. Opposite of me, who is wide awake with adrenaline pumping through my veins.

"What the hell, it's 3:30 in the bloody morning." Is all I make out of her mumbling. I rub my eyes as I approach the door. I grab the handle, and turn around. Taylor is holding the worst defence position I have ever seen. I shake my head and open the door.

Standing before me is Micky. She looks at me and releases a sigh of relief.

I stand there in shock for a second before saying anything. "M-Micky?"

She looks up at me for a second, then smiles, "Raven! So good to see you again!" She exclaims as she hugs me. Taylor comes to the door, only to get tackled in a hug as well, "Oswin! It's so good to see you guys again!" Micky says. We invite her into the house, getting out of the chilly February night.

"How did you find us?" Taylor asks, clearly concerned.

"Oh," Micky laughs, "I have my ways. Being a witch and all." Taylor looks over at me, flashing a questioning look. I ask one question about her and Alex, and not even a day later Micky shows up on the doorstep? Something's going on. Taylor accidently knocks over a bag of salt, spilling it everywhere while she's distracted. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Micky glare at the salt on the floor.

I speak up, "so umm...how's Alex? He's not with you, where is he?"

Micky stands up, and walks towards me, "who's Alex?"

Yup, something's up with her all right. Taylor walks over, hands in her jeans pocket. "Alex, y'know he went with you after we split up to make sure you stayed safe. He travelled with the Doctor, brother of Captain Jack Harkness the time agent, a good friend of ours. I'll ask again. Where. Is. Alex?"

Micky stands up, and turns away from us, "you shouldn't speak to an old friend like that. Especially if they could kill you now." Her accent is gone, replaced with a regular American accent. I see Taylor grab a kitchen knife as I stand up.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Taylor asks, slowly approaching Micky.

Micky turns around, staring at us with pure black eyes, "I've come for you both. Let's make this easy, and you two die quickly and painlessly." She runs at us, as I unsheathe my claws.

She lunges at Taylor, placing her hands around her throat and begins to squeeze. Taylor starts gasping for breath, and trying to pry Micky's hands away from her throat. I stand there, conflicted by what I should do.

' _JUST STAB HER DAMMIT!'_ Box screams at me in my head. I run and stab Micky clean through the chest with both hands. I pull Micky off of Taylor, who is now sucking in oxygen and recovering. I take my claws out of Micky, only for her to turn to look at me.

"Xylophelium? That's not killing me." Micky laughs as I look at her. Dark red liquid is spilling out of the wounds and is staining everything red. Every step Micky approaches me, I take another one backwards. I step over the massive salt mess, knowing I am cornered. Micky suddenly stops and looks down at the salt. She looks to see that the entire width of the kitchen floor is coated in salt from Taylor's spill. I step towards her slightly.

"What's wrong?" I ask, "you're scared of salt? What, did you get it in a wound or something?"

Micky hisses at me, my first reaction is to grab a handful of salt and throw it at her. She backs away, screeching in pain. I continue to do it, until she's on the ground, begging for me to stop. I see Taylor come up behind her, loading a gun. She nods and I drop to the ground. I hear the gun fire and I look up again. Micky's body is twitching and a red light is glowing from inside her. Until she finally drops dead, six clean stab wounds in her chest and a bullet hole in her forehead.

We just killed our friend.

"What the hell was that all about Taylor? What alien was that?!" I ask, standing up and walking over to Taylor.

"That's the thing Keegan, that wasn't an alien. I have no clue what that thing was. But it wasn't Micky, that's for sure. How did you weaken her?"

"I threw sodium chloride at her. Why did that gunshot kill her if my claws didn't?"

"Dunno, just lucky I guess. This colt came with those silver bullets and salt from the Men of Letters deal. Said use it well."

I look over at her, "you could say we 'used it well.'"

"Yea, now help me hide this body." Taylor and I grab Micky's body, and take it outside to a dumpster. It takes a while, but we manage to throw it over.

"I think that's my 4000th kill." Taylor says, looking down at her now bloody hands.

"You keep count?" I ask.

"Course I do, how many for you?"

"I don't know...200?"

Taylor laughs, "sad."

"Freeze," an unknown voice yells at us. Taylor and I quickly turn around. Two men wearing black masks and holding guns approach us.

"Morning," Taylor replies.

"Shut up. Hands where I can see them." The larger one states, we nod and kneel with our hands behind our heads.

"Wait a minute," I say, looking at the two men really hard, "is that you Sabertooth?"

The man shuffles uncomfortably. I smirk, "it is, isn't it? Which makes you Thorton, hiya Thorton."

The men look at each other, and remove their masks, "don't matter."

"Wow, is it just me or do you two seem a tad upset?" I ask, Taylor looks over at me, telling me to shut up.

"You think you could just flip the switch on us and just walk away, Taylor?" Sabertooth asks Taylor, I almost gasp. It's Victor.

"We're not the only ones after you," Thorton continues while aiming a gun at Taylor. Victor does the same at me. They both aim, and Taylor flinches. "See you in the next life."

"Hear me out!" Taylor begins, "I can explain myself, okay? Please." Thorton looks at her coldly, Taylor stares at him pleadingly.

Throton fires the gun, hitting Taylor straight in the chest. She goes flying back.

He fires again, hitting her in the forehead and throat.

I begin to get up.

"Stay the hell down!" Victor demands, I'm trapped, and Taylor is dead on the street. All I can do is stare.

"Shoot her," Thorton says to Victor.

Victor hesitates, "killing Taylor was right. But Raven- she-"

"She made us, and we just snuffed her best friend, you idiot." Thorton tells Victor, their eyes never leaving me. "You want to spend the rest of your life knowing Raven Howlett's on your ass, cause I don't. Shoot her."

I glare over at Victor, locking eyes with him, "go ahead Victor do it." I shift to give him a better aim. "But I'm gonna warn you, when I come back...I'm gonna be pissed." I sneer. This is the end for me. I've never actually died before, so who knows if I can actually come back. Logan has done it though, so perhaps I can. I continue to glare at Victor.

"C'mon!" I yell at Victor, causing him to flinch, "Let's get this show on the road!"

Victor and Thorton watch me, I see Victor's hand shaking on the trigger.

"Come one already," Thorton says as he raises his gun and loads it.

He fires, hitting me in the head.

All goes black.


	26. Golden Light

Humming. That's the first thing I hear.

I keep my eyes closed as I listen to the humming, trying to remember what just happened. I remember Thorton and Victor finding us. They shot Taylor, and then shot me. I was shot in the forehead, but how am I not dead?

I then remember: my healing factor. It worked.

When I open my eyes, I see that I am in a white room. The walls are decorated with circles with white light coming through them. Directly above where I am lying is some sort of circular table. I roll out from under it, and begin to stand up. As I stand up, I see that I am still wearing the white short and black pants I wore when I found Micky. My short still covered in blood from Micky and Taylor. I notice two new holes in my shirt, along with blood surrounding them. Obviously Thorton and Victor shot through both the hearts to make sure I was dead. Other than those, nothing has changed about me. But where am I? Maybe I did die and this is the afterlife.

When I finally stand up, I realize that it's not a table at all. In fact, it looks like a control panel. The top is decorated with different coloured buttons and levers, similar to the ones Howard had back during the war. In the centre of the panel, there are a bunch of sticks surrounding some sort of energy source covered by a glass-like structure. It is fascinating. I walk around it, brushing my fingers across the board, I stop at a screen. Currently, the screen is black, but who knows what it could show when it is active. I look around the room, there's a door with two windows at the top. Unfortunately, the windows are higher than I can reach, so there is no hope in me seeing where I am. Plus I don't really want to know exactly where I am yet, in case I am actually dead. Who wants to know they died because of their brother? Not me.

The room continues to hum, almost as if it was some form of machine, I decide to try to locate the source of the noise, and try to turn it off. However, soon after I begin my search, I hear the door begin to open. I tense up, first I find myself outside of my regular life, and now I'm going to be arrested by the death police for breaking and entering, or even for not leaving this room. Fantastic.

I stay completely still, maybe whoever is entering won't notice the bloody 5'1" girl with the messy ponytail, two bullet holes in her chest, and a steel bar welded to her arm. Not to mention a girl with bright green eyes. I can dream...right?

Four people enter the room. Three boys and one girl. They are all talking about some adventure on the moon, making me wonder even more where I am. I stand still, watching them, until the one boy, who has a soldier build notices me.

"Doctor!" He says, never taking his eyes off me, "someone's in the TARDIS!"

The man who apparently goes as Doctor turns around and looks at me at first with surprise, then with confusion. He walks towards me. He has dark hair, and is wearing a blue shirt and bowtie covered by a dark jacket. In his hand, he has a long silver stick with a light on the end of it. I step backward, fearing it's a gun or some form of weapon. He stops moving towards me.

"Easy my dear," he speaks, putting the stick away into his jacket, "I'm not going to hurt you."

I look at him suspiciously, "who are you? Please, where am I?"

The other three look at me sympathetically, the girl speaks up, "you're in the TARDIS. I'm Polly."

"I'm Jamie," the boy who first noticed me speaks up.

"I'm Ben." The other boy says.

I nod at them, "Keegan."

The man steps towards me again, "pleasure to meet you, I'm the Doctor."

I look at him, "Doctor who?"

"Just the Doctor."

Ben looks at me carefully, "why are you covered in holes? Two in the chest and one in your forehead. They look like bullet holes."

I look down sheepishly, "You're right. I was shot and killed. I escaped from a prison and was wanted by criminals. They found me and my friend and shot us both. I don't know where she is now, but I hope she's alright..." I trail off. Polly, Ben and Jamie are looking at me in horror, while the Doctor steps towards me again, offering me his hand. Carefully I reach out to him, only for his hand to go completely through mine. The Doctor grins, everyone else stares at him with confusion.

"What's going on?" I ask him.

"You're not physically here. You're a ghost." He replies.

"I'm dead?"

"No," he replies, "your body isn't physically here, it's an out of body experience human would call it.

"You're not human?"

"No."

"Great, along with everyone else I know. How am I not here, if I am here, speaking to you right now? If I'm dead, like a-a-a ghost, how can I be speaking to you?" I'm starting to get anxious, but I can't feel my heartbeats.

"It means you're not dead my dear," the Doctor explains, "you're still very alive. In fact, I could probably send you back."

I look up at him. I can go back? I can live? "How?!"

I watch the Doctor take out his stick again, "my screwdriver can help restart your heart."

"Hearts," I correct.

It's the Doctor's turn to be surprised, "pardon?"

I look at him, shyly smirking, "hearts. I've got two hearts. Right where the two bullet holes are." I point to the holes in my shirt. "It happened when I was in the prison."

The Doctor once again looks at me, before pointing the stick at the right heart, "alright. Are you ready?"

I look at the stick, widening my eyes, "what are you doing with that?"

The Doctor laughs, "I'm trying to send you back. You're not ready to move on my dear. The Timelords know about you. I'm going to send you back with the help of my sonic screwdriver."

I hesitantly nod, "I'm ready."

"That's very civil of you," the Doctor points the screwdriver at my right. Immediately I begin to feel a heartbeat. It feels so weak compared to having two, how do people survive with one? Soon after, my left heart starts to beat once again. I inhale a deep breath, I am alive. Not here physically, but alive.

"Doctor, look!" Polly exclaims as I watch my hands begin to glow a soft gold light. I watch the light climb up my body as it begins to glow brighter. I look at the Doctor, who is smiling and waving at me.

"Farewell Keegan, perhaps we will cross paths once again." He says as he gives me a final wave, I can barely see through the light, but I'm beginning to feel more alive.

I lift a hand and return the wave, "goodbye, and thank you."

My vision goes white.

 **TIME SKIP**

"Keegan, you better get your dead ass up or the force will need to be with you." The first thing I hear after coming back from the dead. I open my eyes and see Taylor directly above me. I sit up immediately, and begin checking myself over.

"How...why...what?" I begin asking myself, what just happened? I feel my heartbeats increase; I'm starting to get anxious. I always do when I'm confused.

"Whoa, you alright?" Taylor asks me, walking towards me, "you're actin' like you've just seen a ghost."

I stop looking at my hands and back up at her, by now I'm shaking, "I-I-I didn't _see_ a-a-a ghost, I _w-w-was_ a g-g-ghost."

"Keegan, clam down and slow down," Taylor says, trying to keep her voice steady and low, "what's going on?"

"I-I saw a m-man with a s-screwdriver Taylor..." I say, trying to take deep breaths, only for it to fail, making me worse, "I was dead! H-He put a-a-a hand through...through m-my body! How do you expect me to STAY CALM?! They shot me. They shot you, then shot me! How...how th-the bloody hell am I alive? My healing factor? It's been years! I-I-I mean I'm supposed to be dead, LOOK! They shot me through both hearts and the brain! Look at my clothes!"

Taylor looks at me for a second, almost as if she doesn't know how to help me. Eventually she sits me down on the ground, where our blood still paints the street. It must not be too long after the incident, because we weren't taken away when we were dead. "Keegan, listen to me. You're fine, you're healing factor healed you. You say a 'man with a screwdriver.' What did he look like?"

I sit in silence, trying to slow my thoughts and speeding hearts. I close my eyes, trying to remember his appearance. I eventually open my eyes, "dark hair, blue shirt, dark jacket and bowtie. He had an instrument and a silver stick with him."

Taylor nods slowly, clearly thinking about what I just said, "really? Okay, umm ok. Anyways, are you alright?"

"Yes, I think so."

"That's good; maybe you should see some help."

"Not as a wanted mutant with two hearts and a steel bar holding my left arm together."

Taylor responds with a sideways smirk. I look at her clothes, ripped and covered in blood. I look down at mine again, still bloody and two holes pierce the centre.

"Maybe we should get some new clothes and then maybe...clean the place? There's still your salt spill, Micky's blood and these clothes are kind of shot," I suggest, grabbing Taylor's shoulder and trying to hold back a laugh.

Taylor turns around, wide eyed, "was that a pun?!"

I start laughing, "y-yes!"

She rolls her eyes, "fine, let's go...bitch."

I move to right beside her. I'm feeling a lot calmer already, "jerk."


	27. Everything is Aliens

"I told you we'd be fine!" Taylor calls to the boys as they return home. Everything was cleaned up very quickly, and the house was looking somewhat normal once again. The salt spill was thrown out and Micky's blood was scrubbed off the kitchen walls, floor and cabinets. I swiped some new clothes for Taylor and myself, and we tossed the other ones. We were going to do our very best to keep our deaths a secret from the boys, if they found out they would never let us leave their sights again.

I see Pony run up to me and hug me, "missed 'ya Keegan."

At first I stood there, surprised, but soon returned the gesture, "you too Pony."

Taylor and I help the boys get resettled, we bring in the bags one by one, and soon everything is back to normal. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Taylor carefully watching the Outsiders, probably making sure none are whatever Micky was. I really need to do research about that. If it wasn't alien, what was it?

"Why're we outta salt?" I hear Soda shout as he looks through the kitchen, Taylor and I freeze.

"Cuz...we eat a lot of it?" Taylor answers slowly, "I like salty food." Soda looks at us, before continuing on searching for something to eat, I exhale softly. Taylor just saved our asses.

"Going to the library!" I yell to the others, I'm leaving to do the research while I remember it. I see Taylor give me a look that says ' _oh sure! Leave me here to cover everything up!'_ I laugh and grab my light jacket.

"I'll come with you; I've got stuff to do there." Pony replies as he runs down the stairs. I nod. I hear Taylor and the others laughing as Pony and I exit the house. It's a nice day for February. A cool breeze brushes my sides as we walk, but it's still nice.

"What're you looking for Keegan?" Pony asks me, taking me by surprise.

"Not sure," I answer, "finished my book last night, hoping to find a new one. What 'bout you?"

"I've got some research to do for an essay. It's for the American war of independence, I've been holdin' off on it."

I smile, Ponyboy is always studying in some way, "That's cool. I won't be much help for you sadly."

Pony looks over, "you didn't fight in it?"

I shake my head, "no, I wasn't even alive back then."

"Really?!"

I laugh, "ya, I was born in 1796 Pony. All I really know about it is that the American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place between 1765 and 1783 during which colonists in the Thirteen American Colonies rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy. It formed the United States as a republic, and it included events such as the Tea Act, the Boston Tea Party, the French and Indian war, and the Intolerable acts."

Pony looks at me and giggles, "that's more than I know. Well, I know that much, but I need to be very specific."

"Lucky you. Just use books that look like they know what they're doing. I'll probably be there a while so take your time."

"Got it Keegan," Pony says as we approach the big building. I grin a bit, but soon turn serious. Time to find out what happened that night. Pony opens the doors, and we both enter and go our separate ways.

I make my way around the library, grabbing books that may have answers. Currently in my arms are science textbooks, religious texts and fiction books. I find a corner where no one is currently sitting. I pull out my pen and paper, and begin searching the books. Immediately, I decide against the fiction books. I pick up a mythology textbook. Just skimming through it, there are paragraphs about the supernatural. I slow down and begin searching for anything involving black eyes, and trying to kill people. Nothing again.

"If I was a book that holds 'my friend just tried to kill me, wouldn't die and was scared of salt,' where would I be?" I see a librarian walk over to me. I close the book and look up at her.

"Are you doing alright dear?" She asks me, looking through her eye glasses. She's obviously wealthy; her clothes are designer and well taken care of.

"Oh- yes, I was wondering though, do you have any books on the supernatural? Y'know, ghosts and that sorta stuff?"

She looks at me, "why would you be interested in _that?_ Isn't it a little...dark for someone your age?"

I frown a bit, she thinks I'm Pony's age, "just wondering. I'm kinda interested."

The lady looks at me, "I believe you already hold everything we currently haven't signed out. You can recheck though." I see her paying with a crucifix necklace around her neck...whoops.

"Ok, thank you." I say, hoping to be left alone now. The lady leaves, I continue to go through, finding nothing. I stand up and once again begin pacing the aisles, running into Pony at one point.

"Keegan," Pony says as I pass.

"How you doin'?" I ask.

"Fine, taking forever though. You find a book yet?"

"haha nope. Good luck Pony." I say as I continue to walk through the aisles, now reading the title of every book I spot.

Eventually I get to an older part of the library. The books have a fine layer of dust covering them, and they are bound in different materials. The lighting is slightly darker and no one is around.

Perfect.

I walk along the shelves, running my fingers along the books. I see tons on mythology; however, one book catches my eye. It's a leather bound book that is tied closed. The cover is engraved with an Aquarian Star. I open the book, and written across the page in black ink reads:

"Men of Letters records of Demons and the Supernatural, Fr MT, AB"

Curiosity fills me as I open the book to another page. I immediately sit down and begin taking notes.

 **Time Skip**

"Taylor!" I whisper to her to get her attention. It is well into the night, and I need to tell Taylor what I discovered at the library. She groans as she wakes up and rolls over to look at me, her eyes a dull orange as she wakes up.

"C'mon, I found stuff regarding what happened to Micky."

Taylor sits up, "we're still on that?"

"I wanted answers, I wanted to know."

"Nerd," Taylor mummers as she stands up.

We walk outside; making sure no one followed us. When I'm positive we're alone, I begin talking.

"I'm going to sound crazy, but-"

"Oh like you never have before?"

"Shut up," I answer, "but get this, I found out what was in Micky."

Taylor looks at me, "and?"

"According to the book and records, a demon."

"You're joking."

I pull out the book, "look here is you don't believe me. Taylor get this, black eyes, 'fear of salt,' it's all here. Taylor it fits."

"Nothing is demons, everything is alien." Taylor states flatly.

"But you didn't know what alien that was," I answer back. "Besides, we don't know for sure. But according to the book I read, that was the diagnosis." I hand Taylor the book, she carefully opens it and reads a bit.

"The hell was this doing in the library?!"

I shrug my shoulders, "no clue. I found it though."

Taylor sighs and closes the book sharply, "well, what you were saying does make sense. But how would Micky get possessed? I mean, how does one get possessed? I'm not going to volunteer to find out."

"It says here that demons need a 'meatsuit' to survive here, and that they enter through the mouth." Taylor nods, I know there's proof, it's all there.

"We gotta leave," Taylor eventually says. I nod in agreement.

"Yup, whenever?"

"Pretty damn quick if there's evil sons of bitches out there." Taylor replies while grabbing her glow sword. She ignites it and swings it around. I watch her, and unsheathe my claws without thinking.

Taylor stops and looks at me, and smirks a bit, "when you wanna leave?"

"Tomorrow night," I reply, "I gotta keep Pony and them safe."

"That's cute. We can finish Ajax while we're at it."

"We've got work to do."


	28. Leavingand a note

Dear Ponyboy,

I know that our disappearance is a shock to you all.

First off, let me say I am sorry. I'm sorry for not giving you a proper goodbye. I'm sorry for scaring you all when the morning came and we had left, but most importantly, I am sorry for not telling you everything. I wish I could have told you everything last night before we left. But here we are in a situation where Taylor and I are to face the real dangers alone. I will be forever grateful for the kindness you all showed us, and I will never forget you.

I did this to protect you. I just want to protect you from the real horrors out there. You see, if someone were to find out that you or anyone helped me-especially me- they would kill you on the spot. I can't let that happen. I will tell you now that I am gone what happened while you were away, we were not fine: an old friend who escaped with us arrived at your doorstep in the early hours of morning. Turns out she was possessed, and tried to kill us. We defeated her, but not without ending her life. Then some people who worked for Francis found us while we were outside. They cornered us, shot us, and left us for dead. They sent clear shots through the both of us, but somehow we survived. Those are the dangers I want to protect you from; for I could not live with myself if you were to die.

Please don't be sad...it's for the better. I would have never fit in as a "normal" person in your neighbourhood. I know too much detail about history, loud noises or sirens turn me into a monster, I spend hours at a time lying awake in bed stressing about little things and having anxiety attacks, and lastly- I'm a living weapon. What you probably don't know about me is that I'm a classified mutant, a government freak show. I can heal from anything, including death and I have sharp retractable knives in my lower arms. I was taken into Weapon X as a test subject, to become a living weapon after I attacked an Alaskan Hydra Base in 1945. Francis and them, they succeeded with the living weapon part. There's no place for someone like me anywhere. I'm starting to think that the safest I can ever be is on the run...for I know I can't stay anywhere for more than 6 months or else they find me.

I want to protect you from the real dangers out there, and I know what the cost will be. But if you're safe, my mission will be complete. Salt your doors at night, be afraid of the dark...and forget me. Pony, please forget me. You will be safer if you do, please. I will understand, I just want to keep you alive. Think of me as an angel by your side, except you can't see, hear or feel it. Please, will you do this for me?

This letter, it's my note. That's what people do, don't they? Leave a note?

Goodbye Ponyboy, stay golden.

Yours truly,

Keegan Howlett

.

.

.

.

"I won't forget."


	29. To Richford!

I feel bad about leaving them.

I know we had to, but something about leaving Pony and the others makes me cry nearly every time I think about it.

"Taylor, I feel guilty," I eventually say.

"Don't."

"But we-"

"Doesn't matter anymore Keegan. We had to get outta there, there's evil out there in the world we gotta get rid of. Besides, you wrote that note."

I attempt to slide my hands through my shaggy hair, only for my fingers to catch knots and tangles. I sigh and fix my jacket. We left the Outsiders a week ago, but I feel bad about it. I can't imagine their faces when they woke up to us missing, and my note.

What we're doing is suicide, but it will keep the world safe. I have to remove every speck of evil from this planet.

"Where do you want to start?" Taylor eventually asks me, picking up a news paper, "there's a possession, haunting, everything... That book even said stuff 'bout reapers! We got this."

"I want to find Lex." I answer, looking through a couple war documents that I found in the library. I noticed they were all in familiar writing, which means that they passed Lex at one point.

"There are other people in the world who can manage the little things, but if we're getting involved, we are going to wipe it all out quickly and fast. If we're going to get involved with the unnatural, you can be damn well sure I'm going to use my powers to stop it fast. I just need to find a way to enhance our abilities to stop it all. Besides what are we going to do? Find some fake ID's, stay in crappy motels, eat roadside diner food, come up with code words and smite everything in sight? You know who does that? Crazy people."

"Sounds like fun." Taylor replies sarcastically, as she drops her newspaper. She places her hands her hips and looks at me, "anyways, where we gonna find Lex? It's been decades, she might even be across the planet by now. Or something else, we don't quite know what happened during the war."

"She's not dead, if that's what you're referring to." I answer sharply, "we figured out during the war that Lex, Logan and I have reduced aging. As for how to find her...how do you feel about traveling to Richford?"

"New York?"

"Yes."

Taylor shrugs her shoulders, "why?"

"Stark lives there," I answer, opening the Men of Letters book.

"Keegan, you're gonna need to give me more information. I'm not from here."

"Howard Stark," I explain, "worked for him before the war, and during the war at times after I was sent to the United States along with 14 others. He worked on government projects including Project Rebirth, and worked to take down Hydra during the war-"

"Remind me," Taylor interrupts, "you worked on taking down Hydra?"

"I was undercover as a male version of myself, but yes, mainly."

"Look at you breaking the rules," Taylor smirks at me."

I scoff, "hardly. Anyways, his hometown was Richford. Perhaps he returned there after the war. Even if he's not, how hard can it be to find him?"

Taylor nods her head slightly, thinking about what I just said. "Alrighty. Lead the way Captain Howlett."

"Don't call me that," I answer.

"Better than calling you Raven, bitch."

I shake my head as I turn right and begin walking, "Richford here we come! Allons-y you jerk!"

"If we come across anything alien or... not natural- can we at least deal with it?" Taylor asks, she wraps her left hand around the colt we used back in Oklahoma.

"If you want to we can. I'm not doing anything weird though."

Taylor fist pumps the air, "WOO!"

TIME SKIP

"-libertate...ser-servire, te rogamus...audi nos. Bye bye!" I finish as I close the book with a slight smirk on my face. Taylor lets go of the man, and rolls out from underneath him as he is twitching around.

"Keegan, get down!" Taylor yells to me as black smoke begins to emerge from the man's mouth. I drop, accidentally letting go of the book in the process.

The noise is terrible, the man is screaming out while the black smoke creates another terrible noise on top of it. I cover my ears, but that does not help the terrible feeling in my ears. The windows on either side of the partly built house break from the noise and rattling while the sawdust in the house forms clouds all around us

"What's going on?" I yell to Taylor.

"I don't know! I think the exorcism is working?" Taylor shouts back. Soon after, the noise stops and the man drops to the ground in a heap.

Sawdust and glass litter the ground as Taylor and I pick ourselves up. I groan, and pick up the Men of Letters book.

This one hurt. Two alien problems and this was our first possession that we have dealt with.

I look down at the man, a construction worker, who is currently unconscious...I hope. I kneel down and check his wrist for a pulse, I quickly find one.

Phew.

Taylor held him down, with little success while I read the Latin from the book. My Latin needs improvement, but I managed.

Taylor stands up with a groan and a few curse words, "next time Keegan, could you either hurry up with that reading or you hold him down?!"

"Ya sure. What's worse though? A little demon possession or helping that British guy in the suit with a couple of statues?"

"The Angels are much more terrifying, but they can't talk so they're not annoying that way."

"You know," I begin, "people say you can't kill a stone...but what if you were-"

"Don't start down that path Keegan, it just gets weirder." Taylor replies quickly.

"But-"

"Just don't."

I frown. Taylor starts laughing, "nice bitchface Keegan."

"Thank you. Now, we need to find a faster way to get to Richford."

"Borrow a car?" Taylor suggests, pointing at a red Firebird.

I shrug my shoulders, "I mean, if you can get it started, then sure. Don't get arrested." Taylor looks at me as her eyes turn orange, and she jogs over to the car. Within minutes she gets it started.

I run over and sit in the passenger side, "act natural."

"Wha?" Taylor says as she drives away, her feet barely reaching the pedals.


End file.
